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A MARTYR OF OUR OWN DAY 




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A MARTYR OF OUR 
OWN DAY 

THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
JUST DE BRETENIERES 

Martyred in Corea, March 8, 1866 



Adapted from the French by 
Rev. John J. Dunn 



WW) 



Society for the Propagation of the Faith 

Archdiocese of New York 

462 Madison Avenue, New York City 



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imprimatur 



* JOHN M. FARLEY 

Archbishop of New York 



New York 

April 14, 1907 



F^ecei re j r : onn 
21 D '08 



Copyright, 1907 
By Rev. John J. Dunn 



FROM THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



The biographical sketch presented in this volume is 
a work of piety in a double sense of the term — piety 
toward God, which finds food and nourishment in the 
example of a holy life and a heroic death, and the 
piety of affectionate remembrance, which induced us 
to accept the task we were offered more than ten years 
ago by the venerable parents of the young martyr 
whose brief history we have here outlined. 

Repeatedly interrupted by other labors, and often- 
times only able to resume the work after long intervals, 
we were not able to complete it before the death of 
M. and Mme. de Bretenieres. While deeply regretting 
that we could not give to their tender love the supreme 
consolation, and to their generous sacrifice the de- 
served recompense of making them witnesses of the 
honors accorded the memory of their holy child, we 
have felt, nevertheless, more at our ease in revealing 
the fact that the son's virtue was a precious heritage 
from his parents. It would have been difficult to write 
more than one page of this little book under the eyes 
of those whom we necessarily have had to praise. 

Comprised within the space of twenty-eight years, 
twenty-six of which were spent with his own family 



8 FROM THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

and in the novitiate of the Missions, the life of Just de 
Bretenieres offers nothing to attract the attention of 
man except the glorious sacrifice through which he 
entered into his reward. All the beauty of his life is 
from within ; and even at the risk of misrepresenting 
the ideal, we are compelled to give our little book the 
character of asceticism. For the history of the saints 
is the history of asceticism, and without departing 
from the rules imposed upon biographers by the wis- 
dom of the Church, without forgetting that it belongs 
to the Holy See alone to decide the titles and the 
honors accorded her saintly children, we think we are 
safe in asserting that Just de Bretenieres fully de- 
served this holy appellation. We realize, therefore, 
that only those who are interested in the work of grace 
in a soul, and the progress the soul makes in being 
faithful to that grace, will find pleasure in these pages. 
As the last months of the young martyr's life were 
spent in the mission of Corea, and as his holy death 
and that of his companions was the initial catastrophe 
in a long series of persecutions and trials for the 
Church in that country we have believed it to be our 
duty to give an unabridged account of those circum- 
stances and events which, in a measure, were natu- 
rally connected with his history. All these events have 
been recounted elsewhere, and in a more detailed 
form. The historian of the Church in Corea, the 
biographers of Mgr. Berneux, of Mgr. Daveluy, of 



FROM THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE 9 

Fathers Beaulieu and Dorie — Just's companions in 
martyrdom — have already given such information to 
the public. But a biography should be sufficient in 
itself and because of this it is not to be supposed that 
the reader of this book should have before him works 
relating to the same subject. Necessity, then, has led 
us toward the end of this volume, into some historical 
digressions — a fault against art, perhaps, but pardon- 
able because of our desire to inform our readers on 
points intimately connected with the story of the life 
we are narrating. 

To the spiritual children of the martyrs in that far- 
away land beyond the seas the pages of this little 
book, if ever they read them, will serve as a course of 
instruction in the school of one of their own apostles. 
And in our dear country more than one heart, we dare 
hope, will be thrilled at this record of tranquil hero- 
ism, which had its origin in a truly Christian education, 
and was developed in the exercise of the most humble 
and most solid virtues. 



ADAPTER'S PREFACE. 



It is inspiring in these days of luxury and soft 
living to recall that there are men and women of our 
own times who are drawn to the Sacred Heart and His 
interests by the longing, " to fill up those things which 
are wanting of the sufferings of Christ " in the flesh. 

The long line of Bishops, priests, and laity in the 
early ages of the Church, who laid down their lives 
bears ample testimony to their love of sacrifice for 
the Divine Model, the King of Martyrs. 

Their great happiness was to live for Him, but the 
crown of all their desires was to die for Him. This 
is the story of every age and every land to be found 
in the chronicles of the Church. 

In the rush and hurry of our workaday existence 
we are perhaps inclined to lose sight of the fact that 
the martyr's spirit still lives. There are to-day men 
and women, consumed with a love of souls, who are 
burying themselves in savage lands, stricken with 
disease, beaten, stoned, and imprisoned by those whom 
they are yearning to help. Priests and Sisters who 
are living amid the most revolting conditions, pouring 
out their lives in hunger and thirst, in weariness and 
suffering, and in a loneliness that cuts deepest of all. 



12 ADAPTER'S PREFACE 

Death is most welcome to them, not because it is an 
end to their sufferings, but because through the sublime 
sacrifice others may live. " He who loves not, lives 
not ; and he who lives by the Life can not die." 

Our young martyr is only one of that glorious host 
of God, who, during the past fifty years, bore witness 
to the truth of Jesus Christ with their blood. May 
the history of this beautiful soul, who in a short time 
accomplished much, inspire us with the spirit of sacri- 
fice, and quicken our zeal for the salvation of all who 
now sit in darkness and the shadow of eternal death. 

John J. Dunn. 

Feast of the Annunciation 
March 25, 1907 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

From the Author's Preface 7 

Adapter's Preface n 

CHAPTER I. 
The Childhood and Youth of Just de Bretenieres. — 
Home Education. — Travels. — Decides His Vocation. 
— Prepares to Enter the Seminary at Issy (1838- 
1859) 17 

CHAPTER II. 
At Issy. — Just Resolves to Enter the Seminary of 
Foreign Missions. — His Parents Learn of His 
Decision. — Pilgrimage to La Salette. — His Last 
Day at Home (1859-1861) 38 

CHAPTER III. 
The Seminary of Foreign Missions. — A Painful 
Trial. — Letters. — Preparation for Minor Orders. — 
The Apostolate of the Quarries (1861-1864) 55 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Seminary of Foreign Missions (1861-1864) Con- 
tinued. — Events at the Seminary. — Development 
of Virtues. — Love for Poverty. — Minor Orders. — 
The Sub-Diaconate. — His Brother's Vocation. — 
Extracts from Letters. — Ordination. — His First 
Mass 85 

CHAPTER V. 
The Departure. — The Voyage. — Sojourn in Manchuria. 
—Arrival in Corea (1864-1865) in 



14 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VI. page 
Abridged Sketch of the Corean Mission up to the 
Arrival of Just de Bretenieres and His Com- 
panions (1781-1865) 147 

CHAPTER VII. 
Life in Corea. — The Arrest of Mgr. Berneux. — The 
Prisons. — The Tortures. — Father de Bretenieres 
Captured. — The Examinations. — The Martyrdom 
( 1865-1866) 169 

CHAPTER VIII. 
End of the Persecution of 1866. — Intervention of 
France. — New Trials of Christianity in Corea 
(1866-1878) 199 

CONCLUSION. 
Just's Martyrdom is Made Known to His Parents. — 
Solemn Commemoration of His Martyrdom at 
Dijon, March 8, 1867.— Last Souvenirs (1866- 
1867) 215 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



opposite page 
Frontispiece ^ 

M. de Bretenieres, the Father of the Martyr 36 - 

The Castle at Bretenieres 52 - 

Just's Favorite Walk in the Woods 68 y 

The Seminary at Issy 84 / 

Crucifix in the Garden of the Foreign Missions 
College, about which the Students Gather to 

Sing the Hymn of Departure 100 / 

At Dijon. — The Cathedral of St. Benigne, in which 
was Pronounced the Funeral Oration of the 

Young Martyr 118 

Christian and Just de Bretenieres 130 s 

The Harbor. — The Entrance to Seoul 148 * 

The Temple of the Sun at Seoul 160 , 

Some Native Corean Types 170 ' 

A Class of Catechumens 188 / 

The Prime Minister of Corea in Court Dress 204 , 

The Heir Apparent (at the Right) to the Corean 



Throne, and One of His Advisers 216 



Perfection is like a very high mountain. It costs much tim 
and labor to reach the top; but we need never be discouraged- 
we can always get there if we wish. " 



CHAPTER I. 

THE CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH OF JUST DE BRE- 
TENIERES. — HOME ED UCA TION. — TRA VELS. — 
DECIDES HIS VOCATION.— PREPARES TO EN- 
TER THE SEMINARY AT ISSY (1838-1859). 

The Church calls the day of the death of her saints 
their birthday, and her martyrology is a perpetual de- 
fiance to death. " In such a place," she says, " such a 
saint was born." Adopting, therefore, the heroic lan- 
guage of the sacred liturgy, we state that the birthday 
of Just de Bretenieres was March 8, 1866; for it was 
on this day, having joyfully laid down his life for the 
Lord, that he received in exchange an imperishable 
crown of glory. Nor is this beatitude merely a hope — it 
is a certainty, for the Church does not permit us to 
pray for her martyrs. 

If we simply desired to honor him whom God has 
honored, we would limit ourselves to a narration of 
the circumstances of this second birth, but we seek, 
more especially, the instruction of those who read 
these pages, and we feel assured that they will find 
much that is edifying in the history of this life, whose 
natural crown was martyrdom. It is indeed a touching 
story, which discloses a multitude of divine graces and 
the progress in the way of perfection of one who was 



18 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

faithful to them. To make this biography interesting 
there is no need of giving all the circumstances in 
detail; under the calm exterior of a life passed amid 
ordinary conditions, the soul has its struggles and 
trials, visible only to the eye of God. But when the 
hour of triumph has sounded for the soldier of Christ, 
those who are still battling on the same field have a 
right to ask the happy conqueror for the secret of his 
victory. In this spirit we enter upon the account of 
our martyr's life. 

Simon Marie Antoine Just Ranfer de Bretenieres 
was born at Chalon on the Saone, February 28, 1838, 
in a mansion situated in the Rue St. George, which 
at that time belonged to Mme. de Bretenieres' father, 
the Baron de Montcoy, but which has since become the 
office of the sub-prefecture. 

Providence seems to have surrounded the cradle of 
this child with every wholesome influence. His ma- 
ternal grandfather was distinguished for his valor in 
the defense of Lyons against the Revolutionary armies 
in 1793 ; his paternal grandfather, M. Ranfer de Mont- 
ceau, Baron de Bretenieres, had also experienced the 
hardships of the Revolution, but in another way. 
Emigrating to Switzerland, he remained there only a 
short time, his taste for the fine arts soon attracting 
him to Italy, where he made a living by the exercise of 
his talents. On his return to France, he applied him- 
self to the study and practice of law, and the Govern- 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 19 

ment of the Restoration discerning his ability, and 
wishing to reward his fidelity, appointed him first presi- 
dent of the Court of Appeals at Dijon, his native place. 

His son, Baron Edmond de Bretenieres, inherited 
his father's tastes for the fine arts. After a brilliant 
course in the classics and law, he followed the path 
marked out for him by his father, devoting to travel 
and to painting the first years of his youth ; he returned 
to Dijon to take up the practice of law, a career 
soon interrupted by the Revolution of 1830. A short 
time before the latter event he married Mile. Anne 
Marie Lantin de Montcoy. The first child born of this 
union died soon after its baptism, and its pious parents 
waited nearly seven years for a new pledge of the 
divine favor. At last, in the month of February, 1838, 
after they had been married eight years and a half, 
during a stay at the house of M. de Montcoy, the birth 
of a son saw their ardent wishes realized, and changed 
their prayers into thanksgivings. The infant was bap- 
tized on the day of its birth in the church of St. 
Peter at Chalon by the cure of that parish, the Rev. 
Vivant Compain, its grandfather, M. de Bretenieres, 
and its maternal grandmother, Mme. de Montcoy, act- 
ing as sponsors. 

We shall not yield to the temptation which leads some 
biographers to discern much that is marvelous in the 
life they attempt to portray. We have no hesitation in 
acknowledging that Just's childhood and youth were 



20 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

spent amid ordinary conditions, if we may thus de- 
scribe the austere simplicity of a family wholly directed 
by Christian principles. Those blessed, holy homes 
where love alone tempers the severity of duty ; where 
the parents withdraw in a measure from the world, 
the better to devote themselves to their children's edu- 
cation ; where everything is regulated solely with a 
view to this work ; where religion enlightens the con- 
science and conscience reigns supreme: such homes 
were numerous among the nobility and the higher class 
of citizens of France both before and for some time 
after the French Revolution. 

The father, having retired from public life, devoted 
his time to the management of his private affairs, and 
the winters were passed partly at the home of M. de 
Montcoy in Chalon and partly in Dijon, in an old 
mansion situated on the Rue Vannerie — a handsome, 
secluded dwelling, a solitude in the center of the city. 
The Chateau de Bretenieres, some leagues from Dijon, 
was the summer residence. In these two places the 
family life, filled always with the same round of duties, 
was uneventfully passed. 

We are not of the number of those who compare the 
moral life to the solution of an equation. We do not 
believe that a mere statement of terms gives one the 
possession of that secret which can be solved only by 
free will. Many there are who have found in their 
own family both example and protection similar to 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 21 

that which surrounded Just de Bretenieres during his 
young days, and yet have squandered that inheritance 
of honor and virtue! This being a mystery of the 
moral law, it is still the duty of those having charge of 
souls to provide them with every protection against 
evil and every incentive to good. Such advantages 
were not wanting to our future martyr. In the home 
life which we have just described, his strong, healthy 
nature, anticipating the workings of grace, readily 
developed. 

In the month of April, 1840, a little more than two 
years after Just's birth, God gave his parents another 
son whom they named Christian. A second blessing, 
who proved to be that, indeed, to the elder, for with 
the companionship of a brother so near his own age, 
closely pursuing the same studies and participating in 
the same sports, Just had no need to seek outside the 
family either for an incentive to study or for the dis- 
tractions and recreations necessary to youth. 

Many incidents are related of the boy's thoughtful- 
ness and goodness even at an early age, but we give 
only one very remarkable occurrence, on the super- 
natural character of which we do not intend to dwell, 
although it seems difficult not to recognize in it the 
hand of God. It took place in 1844, when Just was 
six years old and his brother four. The two children, 
under the care of a governess, were playing together 
in the garden at Bretenieres, when suddenly Just 



22 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

stopped. " Be quiet," he said to his little brother, in- 
tently looking into the hole he had just dug. " I see 
the Chinese ! I see the Chinese ! " he exclaimed then. 
" Come, let us dig deeper, and we shall soon reach 
them." 

Christian, peering into the hole, declared that he 
saw nothing, but Just insisted, and, while digging vig- 
orously, described the appearance of the Chinese and 
their costumes. Bending over the hole again, he de- 
clared that he could even hear their voices. Christian, 
filled with astonishment, made no reply, and the two 
children soon resumed their game. 

But this extraordinary event did not pass from their 
memory, although never again was it spoken of be- 
tween them. Twenty years afterward, however, Just 
told the story to one of his fellow-students in the Sem- 
inary of the Missions. One day, when they had gone 
to the institution of St. Nicholas at Issy, to visit a child 
whom he had placed there, the latter questioned his 
little protege concerning his tastes and his future de- 
sires. The child replied that he wished to be a mis- 
sionary, and as his companion seemed much surprised 
at the earnestness with which the little ten-year-old 
spoke, Just said, " I am not at all astonished ; my own 
vocation dates back even to more tender years than 
his. Long before I was his age I knew that I was to 
be a missionary." 

Thereupon he narrated in detail the scene in the 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 23 

garden. Afterwards, on the eve of his departure for 
Corea, he again related this curious incident to an- 
other student at the Seminary of the Missions, Father 
Wallays, Superior of the College of Penang. In a 
conversation full of tender feeling, in which he talked 
over the different incidents of his life, he repeated 
this singular occurrence, the living memory of which 
not even twenty years of silence had dimmed. 

His brother retained a no less vivid impression of 
it, and our account is taken from his words. We find 
some additional particulars in a letter written after 
Just's death by one of his cousins, who gives further 
details. According to her, as Just insisted that he saw 
and heard the Chinese, and his brother neither saw nor 
heard anything, they called their mother, but she like- 
wise was puzzled at her boy's strange words. Just 
then said to them both, in a tone of great earnestness : 
" You can not hear them, but I do, very distinctly. 
There they are, mamma, far, very far off, at the bot- 
tom of this hole, on the other side. They are calling 
me, and I must go to save them." 

We note another indication of his early vocation in 
a remark which he, not more than six or seven years 
old at the time, made to his brother. The two were 
talking together at the Chateau de Bretenieres, to 
which place they were both much attached. " When 
you own this property," said the younger brother, " will 
I have to leave it?" "Oh, no!" replied Just. "It 



24 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

will never belong to me, for I am going to be a priest. 
It will be yours." 

These are the only striking incidents of his child- 
hood which seemed to indicate his future career and 
predestination for the priestly state. Yet all who knew 
him united in declaring that even before his First Com- 
munion he was remarked for his virtues — an angelic 
purity, the spirit of piety, an obedience founded upon 
love for God. Of a reflective turn of mind, he under- 
stood and appreciated the value of the education given 
him by his parents. A person who instructed Just in 
music when he was in his eleventh or twelfth year, 
quotes the following remark which the child at that 
time made to him : " What is often the result of edu- 
cation not conducted like ours? Idleness, a life con- 
tent with trifles." 

As a child, then, his virtue consisted in the faithful 
performance before God of his allotted duties — a sure 
foundation, the best foundation — without which virtue 
is rarely found in childhood. Yet grace already drew 
this chosen soul to higher things, murmuring the sweet 
invitation, " Beloved one, come higher." The pious 
mother was accustomed to give her sons spiritual read- 
ings, which she took great pains to explain to them. 
One day, forgetting their tender years, she spoke to 
them of perfection. Some time afterward she over- 
heard the following dialogue: 

" Tell me, Just," asked Christian, " what is perfec- 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 25 

tion ? I did not altogether understand mamma's mean- 
ing when she was speaking to us about it the other 
day." 

" Perfection, I think," replied Just, " is like a very- 
high mountain. It costs much time and labor to reach 
the top ; but we need never be discouraged — we can 
always get there if we wish." 

The intellectual, like the religious, education of the 
two brothers began at an early age. A foreign gov- 
erness taught them to speak and write German as flu- 
ently as they did French, both of which they were 
studying at the same time. Foreseeing that later on 
other studies would interfere with a thorough knowl- 
edge of German, M. de Bretenieres determined to 
profit by their youth in grounding them solidly in this 
language ; and in the spring of 1845, when Just was 
not more than seven years old, the family went to re- 
side for some months at Kissingen in Bavaria. Here 
a young priest of the diocese of Wurzburg was tutor 
to the children. The following year they made an- 
other stay at Kissingen, whence they went to Bamberg, 
where Just and his brother attended a public school. 
The Archbishop of Bamberg permitted a young priest 
lately ordained to accompany the family to France, 
who, ignorant of the French language, taught entirely 
in German. The religious instruction of his pupils 
seemed to be his especial care and pleasure, and Just, 
already deeply imbued with respect for the priesthood, 



26 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

was delighted to have for his teacher a man so filled 
with the spirit of God. One day he asked his mother 
if all priests were not saints, and on her replying that 
being men they were fallible, a proof of which was 
to be found even in one of the apostles, Judas, who 
betrayed Our Lord, although all the other apostles 
were saints glorified by martyrdom, Just said, " Well, 

I believe M. W is a saint, for when he explains 

the catechism to us I see his face light up, and an 
aureole appears around his head, just like you see in 
the pictures of saints. Isn't it so, Christian ? " The 
latter declaring that he had not noticed it, Just made 
no further remark. 

A French tutor succeeded the German priest, and 
continued to teach the boys until they made their First 
Communion on September 12, 1850. Just, who had 
been kept back, waiting for his brother, was twelve 
and a half years old when the two, accompanied by 
their cousin, received Our Lord for the first time in 
the parish church of Montcoy. That same day, in the 
chapel of the chateau, they renewed their baptismal 
vows and consecrated themselves to the Blessed Vir- 
gin, each child laying at the feet of her statue a peti- 
tion expressing his heart's dearest wishes. What was 
Just's petition ? No one knows, for he did not say, and 
the three notes were burned without being read by 
any save the writers. But considering the holy desires 
that blossomed so early in this young soul, and finally 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 27 

led him to martyrdom, we may readily believe that 
on this day the Blessed Virgin was made the confi- 
dante of his generous sacrifice of himself. 

After their First Communion, a new course of study 
was taken up, but their tutor's health not permitting 
him to continue his work, the parents were called upon 
to decide a most important question — whether to go 
on with their children's education at home, a plan so 
suitable to their tender years, or have recourse to pub- 
lic education. They did not hesitate long. Wishing 
to keep pure and unsullied for God the treasures which 
He had given them, they secured another ecclesiastic 
to instruct their sons in the classics, reserving to them- 
selves the lessons in German. As to their education 
properly so-called, they assumed its entire direction, 
for this purpose detaching themselves more than ever 
from all other cares, withdrawing as it were from the 
world, and transforming their house into a veritable 
college, or if you will, a sort of monastery. The em- 
ployment of time was marked out, studies and classes 
succeeding one another in systematic order. The chil- 
dren's sports were natural and spontaneous, their dress 
simple and uniform. Their vacations, though bringing 
a cessation of study, made no change in their way of 
living. Always careful to protect his sons from what- 
ever might awaken in them a taste for luxury and de- 
velop an unwholesome desire for pleasure, M. de 
Bretenieres gave them but little chance to become ac- 



28 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

quainted with the amusements and distractions of the 
world, and relied upon traveling to supply the neces- 
sary relaxation of mind and body. Even here we find 
evidence of the severe simplicity followed in their edu- 
cation. They made their journeys on foot, each carry- 
ing a sack on his back, the geologist's hammer in hand. 
The father and mother took part in these trips, which 
lasted one or two months. For nine years they spent 
their vacations in this manner, climbing the greater 
part of the mountains, and traversing nearly all the 
valleys, of Switzerland, Savoy, and the Vosges. Ad- 
ventures were not wanting to the little party, and the 
fireside conversations on their return to France were 
frequently enlivened by such incidents. We here in- 
sert an account of the most remarkable of these, al- 
though it took place long after the epoch of which we 
are now writing, and when Just had passed a year at 
the Seminary of Issy. It is quoted from a letter which 
he wrote to his former tutor on September 28, i860. 
The reader can not but observe in it that vein of frank 
gayety which was one of the charms of the young 
man's character. 

" Without preamble," he writes, " I copy for you 
an extract from the Gazette of the Upper Rhine, a 
journal issued three times a week at Belfort, which 
you probably do not receive. 

" ' Day before yesterday, Saturday, September 22, 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 29 

were arrested in the railway station of our town, while 
attempting to escape to Switzerland, the supposed per- 
petrators of the sacrilegious robbery committed last 
Thursday in the church of Fresse-en-Comte. They 
are even more strongly suspected of the murder which 
occurred some time ago on the road from Paris to 
Mulhouse. They are three in number. The one call- 
ing himself the father is of medium height, with white 
hair and beard, and is apparently about fifty-five years 
old. The second is tall and thin and has doubtless 
stolen his clothing to disguise himself, for his coat is 
short and apparently made for another. The third, 
who is supposed to be the youngest [Just, though the 
eldest, was often supposed to be younger than Chris- 
tian], is in clerical dress, also a disguise as one could 
see at a glance, for his cassock is so long that he is 
obliged to hold it up to prevent its dragging on the 
ground. They had with them hammers and chisels, 
which served to strengthen the suspicion against them. 
They did not resist arrest, but feigned complete ig- 
norance, asking repeatedly of what crime they were 
accused, and protesting that a great mistake had been 
made. They were taken through the town by five 
policemen, followed by a great crowd of people. On 
arriving at court they were searched and a dagger was 
found upon each one. After their examination the 
father asked permission to telegraph to the Mayor of 
Dijon, who knew him very intimately, he said, and 



30 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

added that he and several of his relatives were for- 
merly connected with the magistracy of the place. 

' ' As the warrant of arrest was issued at Lure, the 
case will be tried there. It was late in the evening, and 
the police were about to conduct them to prison, when 
the presiding judge, out of respect for the clerical dress 
of the youngest, decided to keep them in custody at 
one of the hotels. Two policemen kept constant watch 
over them during the night. The next day, Sunday, 
offering to pay their own expenses, they were per- 
mitted to go to Lure by train, accompanied by two offi- 
cers. On their arrival they were immediately taken to 
court, but our correspondent has not yet informed us 
of the result of the trial, which we shall give later.' 

" This may be dispensed with," adds Just, " when I 
tell you that the undersigned, who was one of the 
three prisoners, has been released." 

All is true in the above account, except the state- 
ment that it was quoted from a newspaper. Just's 
next letter told the whole story. " I am sure," he 
writes, " that you must have laughed heartily over our 
mishap, as I intended you should. However, it is now 
high time to tell you that the Gazette of the Upper 
Rhine does not exist, and the article is my own." 

Just afterwards acknowledged to one of his fellow- 
students at the Seminary of the Missions that in spite 
of the humorous side of the adventure, he had suffered 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 31 

keenly to see the holy habit which he wore so dis- 
honored, although at the same time he rejoiced at the 
humiliation which was put upon him. 

But let us return to Just's boyhood and his vacation 
tours. These hardy walkers gathered more than pleas- 
ant souvenirs for memory's storehouse. Early in- 
structed in the natural sciences, they took advantage 
of these excursions to add to their collection of rocks, 
minerals, fossils, insects, and birds, which collection 
was, during the year, the object of their untiring care. 

Of the two brothers, Just seemed to take more pleas- 
ure in these instructive distractions from study, and his 
interest in his collections appeared deep and lasting ; 
yet as was subsequently learned, he did this purely as a 
matter of conscience. Knowing his parents' wishes, 
he entered into their plans and sought to encourage 
in his brother a taste for those diversions which would 
help him later. One day when Just's vocation be- 
tokened his early departure from home, his tutor, 
seeing him apparently absorbed in his rocks and birds, 
said, in order to try him : " And what if you have to 
leave all this? " " Oh ! that would not be hard to do," 
was the answer. " I occupy myself with them mostly 
because of my father and my brother. It interests 
them very much now ; and it will be even more inter- 
esting to them when I am gone." 

The vacation tours had another charm for Just, 
known only to himself: he found in them an occasion 



32 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

of disciplining himself in advance for the rough life 
of a missionary. His vocation, which he still kept a 
secret, was ever before his mind. To brave cold and 
heat, fatigue and thirst, was for him an apprenticeship. 
He was never seen to sit down when they halted, to 
drink at fountains, to divest himself of any of his cloth- 
ing in the scorching sun, or to protect himself against 
the cold. 

Did he ever yield to the ordinary passions of youth? 
The testimony of his tutor, who was constantly with 
him for seven long years, gives us an idea of his virtue. 
He was of a nervous temperament and in his early 
childhood very sensitive to pain. " The least suffering 
overcame him," said his mother, " even the cold wind 
blowing upon him would make him cry." But from 
the age of twelve years he sought to harden himself, 
and from this time the spirit of mortification appeared 
in all the details of his life, his one thought always to 
be mindful of others, forgetful of self. The tutor here 
mentioned states that during the seven years Just was 
under his care he never knew the boy to be guilty of 
more than two or three mischievous acts, two or three 
manifestations of selfishness, of self-indulgence, or of 
ill-humor. 

The following is a striking example of one of these. 
The children had learned a game of cards in which they 
took great pleasure. For several days they had amused 
themselves in this fashion after dinner, when one day 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 33 

something happened and the pastime was postponed. 
Just complained of this, considering that the reason 
for such an action was not sufficient, and to punish 
him for his impatience, the boys were forbidden to play 
the game for some days. It was never resumed, but 
neither ever alluded to it again. That a trifling imper- 
fection like this should appear worth mentioning cer- 
tainly shows that this holy child had accustomed his 
parents and teachers to expect from him extraordinary 
self-control. 

We hesitate to place among his faults the first and 
last falsehood which he ever uttered, for in this case 
he was the victim of another's mistake. This pure 
child was one day accused by a person who had charge 
of him of a very grave fault. Perfectly innocent, not 
even comprehending the nature of the accusation, his 
accuser judged otherwise, and insisted upon an open 
confession. To escape the severe punishment with 
which he was threatened, Just yielded. The additional 
injustice was inflicted upon him of exacting a promise 
that he would not mention the occurrence to his mother. 
Ten years afterwards, when at the Seminary of the 
Missions, Just still bewailed his weakness, and con- 
fided to his mother that he could not forgive himself, 
not alone for having lied, but for having concealed the 
matter from her. These evidences of virtue show us 
clearly that he possessed in a high degree those other 
traits of character which would have been commenda- 



34 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

ble in an ordinary child, namely, his recollection in 
prayer, his love for the ceremonials of the Church, his 
pleasure in serving Mass, the tender filial devotion he 
had for the Blessed Mother. The one distinctive 
mark, however, of his piety was his zeal ; not satisfied 
in loving God Himself he yearned to inspire others 
with that same love, and while yet a child his favorite 
pastime was preaching sermons to his brother on the 
goodness of God. The latter listened to them as a 
matter of course, but at a later day he recalled them 
with wonder and admiration, as he recognized how the 
grace of the apostolate filled this chosen soul even at 
such an early age. 

As the sight of a holy, fervent priest thrilled Just's 
heart with joy, so was he equally saddened on meeting 
one careless and lukewarm. " Oh ! how can this priest 
be so lacking in zeal ! " he would exclaim in accents of 
the deepest sorrow. 

Thus passed the years of his childhood and his youth. 
Having finished his studies, he expressed no preference 
for any profession, nor was the subject ever mentioned 
to him, for every one, his brother alone excepted, sur- 
mised what was passing in his soul. Toward the 
autumn of the year 1857, acting according to the ad- 
vice of his director, he informed his parents of his long- 
cherished intention of quitting the world and of doing 
so immediately. M. and Mme. de Bretenieres were not 
of the number of those Catholics who, though they love 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 35 

the priesthood, shrink from the thought of giving their 
children to God in this holy state. One consideration 
alone urged them to withhold their consent, and im- 
pelled them to ask Just to delay his going for two 
years. He had great influence over his brother, and 
they felt that Christian needed his example and influ- 
ence, for a time at least. This request he readily com- 
plied with, and set himself seriously to the preparation 
for the University examinations, with the sole in- 
tention, however, of encouraging his brother in his 
studies. 

The end of the promised two years approached. The 
autumn of 1859 was spent in excursions through the 
valley of the Grisons. Again Just broached the sub- 
ject nearest his heart, telling his parents that it was 
now time for him to follow his vocation, as he was 
already twenty-one years old and ignorant of the line 
of study necessary for a priest. This time they readily 
agreed with him. But now arose the question, in what 
branch of the sacerdotal life was he to fulfil his voca- 
tion? 

Just himself thought that God wished him to enter 
the Order of St. Dominic, because from his earliest 
years he had ardently desired to give himself unre- 
servedly to the practice of the evangelical counsels. 
Moreover, it was the only Order with which he was 
acquainted, and at this time other Religious were sel- 
dom seen at Dijon. It was the place made famous by 



36 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

the work of Pere Lacordaire, and on several occasions 
he had met the illustrious Dominican. One day the 
latter had said to Mme. de Bretenieres when she pre- 
sented her two sons to him : " You must give us one 
of them." And at another time, requested by the 
pious mother to bless them, he pressed Just to his heart 
saying in a whisper, " This one is already blessed." 
All these circumstances naturally exercised some influ- 
ence, if not on his vocation, at least on the particular 
form which it at first assumed in the young man's 
mind. The dominating feature of his vocation was the 
desire, the passion, it may be called, for the apostolic 
life, and knowing that the Dominicans had missions in 
the Far East, he hoped to be sent there. On this point 
he had as yet said nothing, merely expressing a desire 
to enter the Order. 

Joining wisdom to the spirit of sacrifice, here, as in 
all things else, his parents feared that such a choice 
was not entirely free from human influences, and as 
his director shared their doubts, it was decided that 
Just should go to Paris and take counsel with some- 
one wholly disinterested. He went to Father Carriere, 
Superior General of the Sulpicians, who advised him 
to spend at least a year at the Seminary of Issy, where 
he could study and mature his plans. This decision 
was indeed painful to him, but with his usual docility 
he agreed and prepared to enter. 

Up to this time Christian had not suspected his 




M. DE BRETENIERES, THE FATHER OF THE MARTYR. 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 37 

brother's determination, until one night, as they were 
walking together, Just laid his intentions before him. 
It was a heavy cross indeed for him, but neither by 
word nor act did he show the pain he felt. " Light," 
he writes, in his notes, " suddenly broke upon me re- 
garding my brother's future, which I had never before 
clearly understood but which I now knew to be a 
special grace for him. I recognized so clearly, in his 
past, God's call on the one hand, and on the other his 
faithful correspondence to divine grace, that instead 
of trying to change him from a life that would deprive 
me of my best friend, I gave him all the encourage- 
ment that lay in my power." 

The last weeks passed together at home were all too 
short, even though the departure was delayed because 
of the necessary preparations incidental to the removal 
of the family to Paris. The end of this beautiful home- 
life was now approaching, and for Just and those dear 
to him there was opening a period of sacrifices, one 
succeeding the other up to the time of the greatest 
sacrifice of all. 



To gave upon a consecrated Host, to listen to its divine 
appeal urging us to the conquest of souls in distant lands, 
and to remain deaf to its pleadings seems almost impossible." 



CHAPTER II. 

AT ISSY.—JUST RESOLVES TO ENTER THE SEMI- 
NARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS.— HIS PARENTS 
LEARN OF HIS DECISION.— PILGRIMAGE TO LA 
SALETTE.—HIS LAST DAY AT HOME (1859-1861). 

The Seminary of Philosophy at Issy, under the 
direction of the Society of St. Sulpice, reopens an- 
nually on October 5, but, delayed at Dijon by the cir- 
cumstances mentioned in our first chapter, Just found 
the community already at work. It was the vigil of 
the principal feast of the house, the Presentation of the 
Blessed Virgin, one of the great days of the year for 
the sons and disciples of Olier. Those in Holy Orders 
then renew the formal consecration which separated 
them from the world. " Dominus pars haereditatis 
meae," they repeat at the foot of the altar : " The Lord 
is henceforth my heritage forever." 

One of his fellow-students speaks of the impression 
made upon him at his first meeting with the future 
martyr: His tall, commanding figure gave indication 
of the perfect health and strength with which God had 
blessed him. His face was pale, with determined 
features. A quantity of waving hair set off his high 
forehead, and his mild, gentle eyes, beaming with the 
love that filled his soul, made one feel that here was a 
man to be relied upon. 



AT ISSY 39 

The Seminary in which the new student made his 
first studies for the priesthood has been so often de- 
scribed that it is unnecessary to add anything of that 
character here. The great modern structures had not 
yet been added to the old summer home of Marguerite 
of Valois, which had served as a seminary up to this 
time. Issy is a true novitiate of the ecclesiastical life. 
In it may be found side by side the youth fresh from 
college, and those older men who have learned to real- 
ize the nothingness and vanity of earthly things, and 
have decided to devote themselves to the promotion of 
God's interests. It is remarkable how readily they con- 
form to the rules of the Seminary, and with what child- 
like docility they endeavor to acquire habits and prac- 
tices which their years render difficult. Unconsciously, 
the example of these older men has a splendid influence 
upon their youthful companions. Just's was not the 
nature to resist such influences ; he gave himself up 
entirely to them, happy in what he received, unmindful 
of what he gave, filled with the deepest respect for his 
teachers and his fellow-students, without the least idea 
of the charm he exerted over all who were brought in 
contact with him. 

We need not describe how he employed his time at 
the Seminary. It would be sufficient to read over the 
rules of St. Sulpice, and add after each article, " Just 
observed it perfectly." Silent, punctual, prayerful, 
with love for all and a self-denial which his light- 



40 AT ISSY 

hearted nature strove to conceal, such is the portrait 
of our young apostle. Rising above natural likes and 
dislikes, one of the common dangers of community life, 
he was all to all. He associated with the less perfect 
for the purpose of helping them if he could, and with 
the fervent and edifying members of the Seminary that 
he might sanctify himself by their example. 

At first he was surprised at the seeming laxity of 
the rule, so at variance with the training which he sup- 
posed necessary for the missionary life. His home 
education had been one of severe simplicity. He had 
always been accustomed to the exercise of self-control 
and self-denial, and he expected on entering the Semi- 
nary to find there the penances of the cloister. In this 
he was disappointed, but discovered by degrees, how- 
ever, that the faithful observance of the rule gave him 
ample opportunity for mortification. Instead of re- 
gretting the lack of obligatory penances he soon 
learned how to impose penances upon himself. 

For serious minds the Seminary is filled with attrac- 
tion, but the life is very trying unless one is indeed 
thoroughly imbued with the spirit of God. Just worked 
untiringly, and at times, in the inexperience of his zeal, 
went to extremes. He had entered late, and applied 
himself so diligently in order to make up what he had 
lost in his studies, and to keep abreast of his daily 
work, that his health gave way and his Superiors 
found it necessary to send him back to his parents 



AT ISSY 41 

for a few weeks' rest. Christian was delighted at 
this enforced leisure, because it meant for him the 
companionship of the brother to whom he was so in- 
tensely attached. However, Just was soon able to re- 
turn to the Seminary, there to devote himself anew to 
the double task which wholly absorbed him — his sancti- 
fication and the endeavor to discover his true vocation. 

Before giving an account of the means by which he 
came to a decision regarding the latter, let us take a 
brief glance at some characteristic traits and incidents, 
showing how he made progress in the first part of his 
self-imposed task. 

Just was fully convinced that so far he had done 
nothing for God. One day having heard in a spiritual 
reading these words of a celebrated Sulpician of the 
seventeenth century : " Compared to the saints we are 
devout only in appearance," he exclaimed, " That is 
indeed true! We have done nothing. It is time to 
begin in earnest." 

This explains the holy longing with which he sought 
the society of the most fervent and edifying seminari- 
ans. No one of these had more of his confidence per- 
haps than he of whom we now speak — a fellow-student, 
Father Guerin, a native of Lyons, whose early death 
as a novice in the Society of Jesus permits us to break 
the silence his humility had imposed upon us. Soon 
after he graduated as a civil engineer, this young man 
retired from the world to Issy, having in view the 



42 AT ISSY 

same purpose as that which had brought Just there, 
namely, to find out his vocation. While already re- 
solved to enroll himself among the soldiers of St. 
Ignatius, the events following close upon Castelfidardo 
caused him to join another army and offer his blood in 
defense of the Holy See before devoting his life to the 
service of the Church. For this purpose he left Issy 
in February, 1861, during Just's second year there; 
but the few short months they passed together under 
this holy roof had sufficed to cement their friendship 
into an indissoluble union, strengthened by the same 
love of God, the same thirst for sacrifice, the same 
aspiration for martyrdom. We gather from his letters 
written to Mme. de Bretenieres after Just's glorious 
death, the close intimacy in which they lived. 

" We were both for a time at Issy," he says, " await- 
ing the hour marked out for us by Providence to enter, 
he, the Seminary of Foreign Missions, I, the Society 
of Jesus. Long before we had mentioned our inten- 
tions, each had divined the other's secret and our later 
conversations confirmed it. 

" We were speaking one day of the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, grieving that it occupies so small a place in the 
life of Christians. ' It is really incomprehensible,' we 
remarked, ' man's ingratitude in refusing such a Friend 
anything. To gaze upon a consecrated Host, to listen 
to its divine appeal urging us to the conquest of souls 
in distant lands, and to remain deaf to its pleadings, 



AT ISSY 43 

seems almost impossible ! ' At these thoughts we were 
both overcome with emotion, and it was necessary for 
us to break off our conversation before the usual hour, 
or rather, to finish it at the feet of Him to whom one 
may lay bare his heart. A few minutes afterward I 
met Just on the stairs ; his face was radiant with joy v 
his eyes filled with tears. ' Oh, thanks a thousand 
times,' he said to me ; ' how much good our conversa- 
tion has done me !' " 

Thus was instilled into this generous soul, either by 
God's direct action or by that of His instruments, an 
overwhelming desire for sacrifice. Thus also was daily 
advanced the great purpose for which he had entered 
the Seminary. 

We have said that on entering there had been two 
dominant thoughts in his mind, the one known, the 
other a secret — the life of a Dominican and the desire 
to work on the missions, closely united the one to the 
other, the first of which only gave form to the second. 
There came the question now as to whether, consider- 
ing all the circumstances, there were not at work 
within him more of human, natural influences than 
divine. In the beginning Just did not think so, but to 
reassure his directors he consented to examine care- 
fully the grounds on which he based his vocation. 

As he proceeded in this examination, the doubts ex- 
pressed gradually grew stronger and stronger in his 
own mind, until at last they resolved themselves into 
4 



44 AT ISSY 

a certainty. One thing alone appeared necessary to 
him, namely, to fulfil what he felt was the will of God 
and give himself to the foreign apostolate. He could 
not enter any of the established Religious Orders and 
be sure that he would be able to follow the divine call, 
because the Religious, by his very profession, re- 
nounces all right to the selection of his duties. Hence 
the Seminary of Foreign Missions seemed manifestly 
the path marked out for him by divine Providence in 
which to follow a vocation daily growing more clear 
and decisive. 

These interior deliberations, known only to his di- 
rector, occupied the whole of his first year at Issy, 
toward the end of which he received the tonsure in the 
church of St. Sulpice, at the hands of Cardinal Morlot. 
A severe attack of rheumatism which confined him to 
his bed during the preparatory retreat, threatened to 
deprive him of joining with his fellow-students in this, 
the first step toward the priesthood. But on the very 
morning of the ordination a sudden improvement in 
his condition permitted him to receive the tonsure with 
them, and the ardent joy, the angelic recollection of 
the young student was remarked during the long, sol- 
emn ceremony. 

Six weeks afterward the vacations began, furnishing 
him the opportunity of showing the fruit of that in- 
terior spirit to the acquiring of which he had devoted 
the past year. Despite his deep affection for his par- 



AT ISSY 45 

ents and for his brother he felt like an exile away 
from the Seminary, although keeping the rule most 
strictly and endeavoring to preserve all the advantages 
that he had gained from close intimacy with the most 
edifying of his confreres. 

His parents took him to the waters of Plombieres to 
build up his shaken health, and it was at the end of 
the season here that M. Bretenieres and his two sons 
made the excursion into the Vosges, in the course of 
which happened the adventure already spoken of. 

Reentering the Seminary in October, i860, Just 
joyfully resumed the exercises of the community life, 
and the bonds between the Abbe Guerin and himself 
were drawn more closely than ever. On the departure 
of the latter for Rome to be enrolled in the Pontifical 
army, Just succeeded him in charge of the infirmary. 
Mortified, and paying but little attention to the ordi- 
nary requirements or needs of life, he had not much 
natural aptitude for these new duties, but charity 
proved an able instructor, and he soon became quite 
proficient in ministering to the sick. His zeal found 
full scope in an employment which brought him so 
closely in contact with many of his brethren, and en- 
abled him, by his delicate attentions, to strengthen the 
counsels and the example of virtue which he gave 
them. 

From the beginning of this second year he had de- 
cided to enter the Seminary of Foreign Missions, but 



46 AT ISSY 

on the advice of his director he kept his resolution 
secret for a time, making it known only to his parents 
and his old tutor. A letter to the latter, dated February 
21, 1 86 1, reveals the love of his generous soul. He 
writes : " I tell you, but in confidence, that I have 
turned seriously to the Seminary of the Missions. Say 
nothing about it for the present, because I am not yet 
positively determined on this point, and shall not be 
for three or four months. When I do finally decide I 
intend mentioning it to no one outside our small family 
circle before taking the final step. In this way I shall 
avoid the questioning that will surely follow, for I well 
know that comments will be made. My decision once 
arrived at, nothing, no one, can shake it. Father and 
mother, to whom I have already spoken, will not op- 
pose it. Believing it to be the will of God, I shall not 
be anxious as to the manner of its accomplishment, 
knowing that all will be brought about in His own 
good time." 

By May his decision was fixed, and the time had 
now come to inform his parents, which he did one day 
while paying them a visit in their apartments in the 
Rue de l'Est, opposite the Ecole des Mines. 

The interview was a trying one. M. de Bretenieres 
saw vanish the hope which he still retained of recon- 
ciling the rights of paternal love with the demands of 
the zeal which filled his son. Seeing at once the suffer- 
ing in store for himself and those dearest to him— the 



AT ISSY 47 

separation, most probably in this world forever, the 
hard life of a missionary, and perhaps death amid tor- 
tures for Just, the father could scarcely bear up under 
his grief. 

Not less affected, but more fortified by grace in this 
trying hour, Mme. de Bretenieres proved herself a 
worthy companion of those heroic mothers whom his- 
tory associates in the martyrs' glory, by their sublime 
sacrifice of their children. Silently praying while her 
boy was unfolding his plans, she asked from God the 
strength to thank Him for having chosen her child 
for such an apostolate. 

After his disclosure some moments of silence fol- 
lowed, and Just, although outwardly calm, was in- 
wardly undergoing a violent struggle. Expecting op- 
position from his parents, and seeing that they made 
no reply, he concluded that they were meditating some 
plan, framing some argument, to shake his resolution, 
and thought it well to begin the attack himself. In a 
few words he recalled all the motives which proved 
that he had the vocation, all the precautions that he 
had taken to prove it, all the concessions he had made 
in postponing his decision. Would it not be great 
presumption to question the manifest will of God? 

Still his father and mother made no reply. More 
and more troubled by their silence, Just feared that he 
might be tempted to yield, and under the influence ot 
this fear allowed his feelings to carry him away. 



48 AT ISSY 

" Nothing," said he, " can make me change my reso- 
lution now. I knew a student of the Seminary of For- 
eign Missions, in circumstances like my own, who, 
being unable to obtain the consent of his parents, and 
afraid that they would take means to prevent him, 
secretly left for pagan lands after only a few months' 
stay at the Seminary." 

This implied suspicion was an injustice to M. and 
Mme. de Bretenieres, who had certainly given no 
ground for it, and it wounded them deeply. They had 
raised no objections because they realized that they 
were face to face with a divine vocation. On the very 
day of this disclosure, May 15, 1861, the father ac- 
companied his son to the Seminary of the Missions 
and presented him to the Superior, at that time the 
Venerable Father Albrand. Thus was the will of God 
generously accepted by those heroic souls. 

Just had a little more than two months to remain at 
Issy, and with that evenness of disposition so charac- 
teristic of him he returned there, and applied himself 
to his every-day duties as if nothing out of the ordinary 
had taken place. Was it not to follow the will of God 
that he wished to become a missionary? And in what 
better way could he please Him than by faithfully per- 
forming each day's allotted tasks? 

On July 15, 1861, he bade farewell to the Seminary, 
and we may mention here the words of the Superior 
of the house, written to the saintly mother after the 



AT ISSY 49 

martyrdom of her son. " My recollection of this 
period," he writes, " is embalmed in the perfume of 
his virtue, but it offers few incidents. 

" Calm and uniform, his life was a beautifully at- 
tractive one, without display or ostentation. The fol- 
lowing is the notice I find of him in our register : ' De 
Bretenieres, Just, Nov. 19, 1859, to July 15, 1861 ; was 
for two years the edification of the Seminary by his 
piety and winning gentleness. His good qualities are 
the fruit of the education received in his own family, 
an excellent preparation for the great things in store 
for him.' In writing these last words," continues 
Father Marechal, " which I did not quite understand 
myself, I often afterward thought of changing them, 
as not in keeping with the painful and obscure life of 
a missionary. To-day their meaning is plain to me, 
and I leave them just as they were written." 

Before entering the Seminary of the Rue du Bac, 
Just wished to satisfy his devotion to the Blessed Vir- 
gin by a pilgrimage to La Salette, which he made in 
company with a fellow-student. Five days were passed 
in this place of solitude, where the beauties of nature 
proclaim the greatness of God, and Mary's sorrows 
invite the Christian to penance and recollection. The 
hours went quickly and pleasantly, spent as they were 
in the long prayers of the Church, and in the conversa- 
tions which melted the heart of his companion. In 
these sweet and tranquil days the workings of divine 



50 AT ISSY 

grace were evident in this young soul, whose heroic 
death a few years later was the crowning of a life holy 
even then. 

At the end of their stay at La Salette, the two pil- 
grims were joined by Just's brother, who had passed 
a successful examination for his degree at Lyons. He, 
too, had come to thank the Blessed Mother for his suc- 
cess, and to enjoy once more the society of a brother 
from whom he was soon to be separated. On their 
return, the two brothers stopped some days at Dijon, 
thence proceeding to Paris, where their parents 
awaited them. But Just did not go to his parents' 
home. He had promised to give them some weeks of 
this year's vacation, but longing to take his place in 
the family of missionaries, he determined to put him- 
self under obedience to his new Superior and to make 
the acquaintance of his new brethren before doing so. 

Hence, on July 25, he entered the Seminary at the 
Rue du Bac, where he was cordially received. Al- 
though pleased with the reception, he was greatly sur- 
prised at the difference in the communities. The one 
that he had just left was filled with a daily routine 
deemed necessary to develop the untried characters of 
the students, but here there was a freedom and a lack 
of restraint that made him feel at first that this easy- 
going life was not a fit preparation for the hard experi- 
ences he would have to meet. It required only a short 
time, however, to show him that under this external 



AT ISSY 51 

appearance was a spirit of profound recollection and 
deep charity, a great love of evangelical perfection and 
self-denial. 

Just was too well versed in spiritual matters to en- 
tertain, for any length of time, a misapprehension aris- 
ing from mere differences in appearances. A few 
months afterward he wrote to his old tutor : " I was 
under the impression at first that I had entered a so- 
ciety whose members took life easy, and where there 
was not much of the interior spirit, but this impression 
has proven erroneous. A house from which men are 
to go forth trained to battle against the devil and fully 
equipped for the struggle, must have an abundance of 
God's graces. Such is indeed the case in this house, 
and if you come here this winter, I shall tell you some 
things which will certainly astonish you, and which 
prove that there still are saints on earth." 

During this, the early part of his stay at the Rue du 
Bac, his Superiors permitted him to visit his family 
almost daily, or to make little excursions with his 
brother in the neighborhood of Paris. It was vacation 
time, and the venerable Father Albrand hoped by this 
indulgence to Just to give some consolation to the 
parents who had so generously given their child to 
God. Toward the end of August they all returned 
to the Chateau de Bretenieres, there to spend what was 
to be his last vacation with them, for it was and is an 
inviolable rule that the students must pass their vaca- 



52 AT ISSY 

tion days at the community house at Meudon. So com- 
pletely was Just master of himself that he did not be- 
tray the least feeling on this occasion, although from 
a letter written to a friend on the eve of his departure, 
we can conjecture what a struggle was taking place in 
his soul. 

" I shall have especial need of your prayers," he 
wrote, " during the few days I am going to spend at 
Bourgogne, for many things will happen there to try 
me. No matter how great the soul's joy in sacrificing 
all to God, human nature is part of us, its voice is al- 
ways an insistent one. Help me by your prayers to 
conquer myself, my inclinations, that I may enter on 
the road of perfect detachment and abandonment." 

And elsewhere, referring to his parents, he says, " I 
really prefer to return here in about ten or twelve days, 
but my wishes are subservient to the thought that I 
ought to give a little more of my vacation to my par- 
ents. I would rather a thousand times have to fight 
their opposition, but I do not meet with any. Yet I 
see my father consumed with silent grief, my mother 
heartbroken, while my brother frankly tells me of the 
sorrow my leaving will cause them. God's grace sus- 
tains me under all this, but it is none the less painful 
for me to feel that I am the cause of so much suffering 
to others. Live Jesus ! Is it not sufficient recompense 
for me to know that I am following God's will ? Pray 
for my parents." 




>.;':■'., 







AT ISSY 53 

During the three weeks that he was at Bourgogne, 
he concealed the grief that so heavily oppressed him. 
Wishing above all things to avoid giving those dear 
ones any fresh pain, he resumed his former occupa- 
tions, arranging his collection of minerals, giving his 
father and brother many suggestions concerning their 
geological work, and compiling the notes taken during 
the vacations. Never before had he displayed such in- 
terest in the scientific pastimes which had once occu- 
pied his leisure and which he hoped would prove a 
solace and a distraction to those he was about to leave. 
But even this failed to dispel the cloud that hung above 
the home and his very cheerfulness, in such striking 
contrast to their depression, served but to intensify 
their coming loss. There was little conversation, and 
the preparations for his departure went on amid stifled 
tears. He wished to look upon all that he was going 
to sacrifice for the last time, and the days that remained 
were spent in this mournful occupation. He visited the 
friends of his boyhood, the old servants of the house, 
the church at Chalon where he had been baptized, the 
one at Montcoy where he had made his First Holy 
Communion, the cemetery where his grandparents 
slept their last long sleep. When the momentous hour 
arrived, the family left the chateau, the scene of so 
many happy memories, and passed through the old 
village. This was more than the overwrought heart 
of the young apostle could stand, and vainly striving 



54 AT ISSY 

to check the grief which he had thus far concealed, 
there burst forth from his lips the words, " At last it 
is accomplished ! " On the morning of September 19, 
he went with his parents to the sanctuary of Fontaine- 
les-Dijon, built upon the site of the chateau where St. 
Bernard was born. His brother, who heard Mass with 
him, noticed that the day's Gospel contained these 
words of our blessed Lord, " And every one that hath 
left house or brethren, or sisters, or father or mother, 
or wife or children or lands for My name's sake, shall 
receive an hundred-fold in this life and shall possess 
life everlasting " (Matt. xix. 29). This did not escape 
our young student, but it was not until two years after- 
ward that he mentioned to his brother what a consola- 
tion the words had been to him. At an early hour that 
evening he left his father's home on his way to the 
Seminary. No one would ever have suspected that that 
apparently light-hearted youth was bidding a last fare- 
well to all earthly ambitions. 



If there is anything in the world that can urge one to stop 
at nothing it is love for souls, since this love can not be separated 
from the love one bears Jesus Christ. Filled with this holy love, 
this holy longing . • . no sacrifice can deter him. He be- 
seeches Our Lord to make him suffer." 



CHAPTER III. 

THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS.— A PAIN- 
FUL TRIAL.— LETTERS. — PREPARATION FOR 
MINOR ORDERS.— THE APOSTOLATE OF THE 
QUARRIES (1861-1864). 

On September 21, 1861, Just entered the Seminary 
at the Rue du Bac, never to leave it until he was a 
priest and missionary. It was the feast of the Seven 
Dolors of Our Lady, and the young student's heart 
rejoiced at this happy coincidence, which seemed to 
place the sacrifice his parents had made and his own 
hopes and longings under the patronage of the great 
Consoler of the afflicted. 

The community being still at Meudon for the closing 
days of the vacation, his Superior permitted him to 
participate in short trips nearly every day with a pro- 
fessor of the Seminary at Issy, an intimate friend of 
the Bretenieres family, who, having charge of the sci- 
entific course, was delighted to explore the quarries 
around Paris with the young man as his companion. 
Judging from his letters to his brother at this time, 
giving an account of these geological excursions, one 
might suppose that this science, in which Just excelled, 
still held a high place in his regard. But other letters 



56 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

written to his friend at St. Snlpice show him entirely 
detached from these pursuits, occupied with them only 
apparently that his seeming interest might make his 
daily occupations a source of diversion to his parents, 
and lighten their grief. It was with this end in view 
that he urged his father to make a journey in company 
with Christian, knowing well that his mother would 
find in solitude and prayer what he counselled the 
others to seek in the distractions of travel. How 
beautifully he consoles her in these first days of their 
separation ! " I feel no disquietude," he writes, " and 
I have great confidence in the Blessed Virgin, because 
she will never prove faithless to any one who has placed 
his trust in her. I hope, dear mother, that you have 
the same confidence. It is indeed true that nothing 
engrosses your thoughts so much as your children, and 
without wronging your mother's heart, which loves us 
so devotedly, may I not say that the Blessed Virgin is 
the best of all mothers, and that if it be impossible for 
an earthly mother to remain deaf to the prayers of her 
children, with what greater reason may we not believe 
that the Queen of mothers, whose glory is to enrich 
and to bless, will never refuse to aid her spiritual chil- 
dren who invoke her as their refuge? It is true that 
such confidence is difficult to acquire, and that it de- 
mands great faith as well as great mistrust of our own 
lights ; yet we can at least ardently desire it. This 
desire is, with God's grace, the first step we can take ; 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 57 

the fruit comes later, given us by God as our reward. 
Hence, let us ask this confidence of Him, and He will 
give it." 

Here is the language of faith. He who penned these 
encouraging words to his mother learned this language 
from her in his early childhood. And his faith was 
her recompense — sufficient recompense for all true 
Christian mothers. 

The vacations were over; the students returned to 
the Rue du Bac, and went into retreat on October 5. 
Just hastened, after such a trying ordeal, to strengthen 
his soul with prayer. For the first time he made a 
retreat according to St. Ignatius. In the Seminary 
there are no sermons. The day passes in silence, four 
hours of meditation taking the place of sermons, the 
rest of the time being spent in the examination of con- 
science, spiritual reading, reflection, the pouring out 
of the soul before the tabernacle, or at the feet of Our 
Lady's image. Only those who have followed this 
mode of life know how wonderfully it develops the 
spiritual side of our nature. Some would shrink at 
the very anticipation of those long days passed in self- 
communion, believing that if ordinarily it is difficult 
for them to spend even an hour in mental prayer how 
much more so must it be to sustain such an effort for 
several hours daily. Vain fears ! These exercises are 
for him who makes the retreat a surer guide, a stronger 
support, than all the discourses he could listen to. It 



58 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

is in this communion with God, in this admirably com- 
bined series of interior acts, that the soul is inspired 
with the knowledge of its end, with a horror for sin, 
with the infinitely sweet grace of true repentance, and 
then with the desire of following Jesus Christ in the 
way which He points out by the successive mysteries 
of His life. It is here God's designs are revealed in 
the fruitful work of election. It is here the Christian 
is armed for the strife, and goes forth renewed in 
spirit, burning with love for the service of the King. 

If these spiritual exercises can produce — as they 
have — such effects in a soul but poorly prepared pro- 
vided it be faithful to grace, what fruits must they not 
bear in a generous heart, long open to divine love, and 
already anticipating the joys of sacrifice? And we 
know that such was the soul of Just de Bretenieres, 
hence we are not surprised at the extraordinary fervor 
one perceives in his correspondence after the close of 
this retreat. 

But " fervor," says St. Ignatius, " consists rather in 
acts than in sentiments and words." "Amor debet 
poni magis in operibns quam in verbis." So, too, says 
Our Lord in the Scriptures : " He that hath My com- 
mandments, and keepeth them ; he it is that loveth 
Me" (John xiv. 21). Filled with this truth, our 
student lost no time in applying himself to his new 
duties. Always mistrustful of himself, it was not 
without a certain fear that he entered upon the study 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 59 

of theology. The course of Dogma was then taught 
in the Rue du Bac by one professor, and as it em- 
braced a period of three years, it happened that only 
once in every three years were new students enabled 
to begin the course. At other times they were forced 
to take it up at whatever portion engaged the more 
advanced students. Just encountered at the beginning, 
perhaps, the most difficult part of theology, the treatise 
on grace, and he applied himself to it with the humble 
fidelity characteristic of him. But even this study, so 
closely connected with his vocation, although engross- 
ing his mind, did not possess his heart. He pursued it 
with conscientiousness, but still reserved the strong 
energies of his soul for closest communion with his 
divine Lord. 

Not only advancing in the practice of piety himself, 
he counselled others to it with a wisdom that knew how 
to adapt his advice to their spiritual capacity. His cor- 
respondence with his brother on this point is a model 
of what zeal for souls can inspire. Knowing that idle- 
ness would prove more injurious to Christian than any- 
thing else, Just repeatedly urged him to work hard at 
his studies. He was not satisfied with mere generali- 
ties in the way of advice, but making use of his own 
experience, he entered into the minutest details. The 
accuracy of his knowledge and the precision of his 
language added weight and authority to his instruc- 
tions. 



60 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

From time to time the accent of piety makes itself 
heard. " I forgot to say to you yesterday," he writes, 
" that you must guard against losing sight of God 
amid the occupations that take up your time. Do not 
allow yourself to be influenced by what pleases your 
fancy and appears fair and right to you, without ex- 
amining whether it be founded upon a principle of 
good. You remember that you laughed some years 
ago when I spoke to you of the vanity of all things 
human. This, however, does not prevent my speaking 
to you again upon this all-important subject. Yes, 
vanity, vanity ! This is a serious matter. Do you un- 
derstand and reflect upon it? I am not preaching to 
you, I am merely giving you a little advice ; or, rather, 
it is Our Lord who gives it, not I, for frequently did 
He speak of the vain illusions of this world. Pray for 
me. I have far more need of prayers than you." 

The following year the note changes ; the counsel 
to study is not forgotten, but spirituality occupies a 
larger and ever increasing share in his letters. Per- 
ceiving in his brother's soul the work of grace which 
will soon develop a vocation similar to his own, he dis- 
creetly draws this soul so dear to him to an intimate 
knowledge of the Saviour, helping it to value renuncia- 
tion and self-sacrifice at their true worth. The third 
year Christian is at the Seminary at Issy, and the 
future apostle feels no restraint in speaking to him 
of divine love ; and he does so in eloquent terms. 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 61 

Such was the solidity of his virtue during the first 
months of his Seminary course. In sacrificing to his 
vocation for the foreign missions his aspirations to the 
monastic state, he had lost nothing of his early spirit, 
and on entering the Seminary at the Rue du Bac, it 
had been his greatest joy to find in this holy community 
the equivalent of the religious life. 

" There is one thing here," he writes to a former 
fellow-student at Issy, " that sincerely pleases me : holy 
poverty is practiced to the greatest degree. The Semi- 
nary is supported, not by the tuition received from the 
student, but by alms. One is lodged and supported by 
the Seminary. All that he possesses, all the furniture 
of his cell — books, clothing, etc., are given him by the 
house or by friends. What joy this gives me! It 
brings the monastic life nearer, in making us own 
everything in common. What happiness to be able to 
say that I eat the bread of charity." 

We shall soon see to what perfection he brought the 
love of poverty and how he practiced it. For the pres- 
ent, however, we will simply glance at the first weeks 
of his stay here. He had already won the admiration 
of his fellow-students, but in his humility he felt that 
he was an intruder, and his letters are filled with the 
impressions made upon him by his surroundings. 

" Up to the present," he writes to a priest of the 
diocese of Dijon, " I am more and more convinced 
that the good God calls me to His service in the foreign 



62 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

missions, and this belief is growing stronger and 
stronger every day. Time passes very rapidly and I 
feel no more anxiety than if I were never to leave my 
native land. Moreover, let me assure you that the 
thought of going away from home and country does 
not cast the least shadow of sadness over the students 
here. On the contrary there is perhaps no other com- 
munity so happy as ours, for the good God seems to 
reward with perfect peace of soul the sacrifices we 
have already made, and the desire we have to make 
others. The nearer the time of trial approaches, the 
more does divine Providence take possession of our 
hearts, filling them with a simplicity and child-like 
sweetness that are truly marvelous. 

" Our Lord gives these young apostles a practical 
charity, which astonishes those who are brought in 
contact with them. Here all are brothers, directors and 
students seeming to have but one heart and one soul. 
That ardent love which the Apostle St. John recom- 
mended to his disciples binds them together. There is 
more need here of the virtues of humility, self-denial, 
and fidelity to God than perhaps any place else, and 
they are found here in so high a degree that, poor be- 
ginner that I am, I can scarcely comprehend the 
sanctity of the lives around me." 

There was a period when the sight of these sublime 
virtues, carried to such perfection, proved a trial, which 
he afterward revealed to his mother in confidence. In 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 63 

meditating on the sanctity of those with whom he was 
to live in such close relations ; in thinking of the Christ- 
like lives of his directors, several of whom had already 
been put to the torture for the Faith, he was seized 
with fear. Perhaps it was the weakness of human 
nature shrinking from the sacrifices which he knew 
were inevitable, or that his timidity made him dis- 
trust his fitness for any undertaking. It may have 
savored a little of both. At any rate, after a time this 
fear vanished and he then understood that God had 
permitted him to realize his weakness for the purpose 
of drawing him closer to Himself. Summoning, there- 
fore, all his courage, he faced the heights which he 
would have to mount, no longer doubtful of himself, 
but filled anew with the confidence which he had lost 
but for the moment. 

The memory of him among his fellow-students 
showed the heroic plan he laid out for himself, a plan 
to which he ever remained faithful. According to it 
the student was to make all his actions a preparation 
for the apostolic life. The apostle is poor ; Just im- 
mediately embraced the strictest poverty. Wishing to 
wear nothing but what he received as charity, he di- 
vided among his brethren all the linen and articles of 
wearing apparel which he had brought to the Seminary, 
and henceforth received from his Superiors the things 
he needed. He had but one cassock, which he wore 
until it was literally falling to pieces ; his underclothing 



64 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

was so worn and threadbare that a beggar would have 
discarded it; his shabby, ill-fitting hat became a by- 
word in the house. Noticing one day that he could no 
longer wear the rabbi that he had on, he thought of 
asking for another, but finding one in the sweepings 
of the Seminary corridor, he appropriated it, saying 
with naive simplicity, " This is better than the one I 
have." 

He resolved to become used to suffering, realizing 
that the true apostle must ever bear the cross. Did he 
follow the austerities practiced among the Religious 
Orders? No one can say, but those who knew him 
well state that by preference he always chose the morti- 
fications which would prepare him for the rough life 
of a missionary. During the first year he accustomed 
himself to sleeping in his clothes. In winter he used 
a straw mattress, in summer he slept on the floor. 
Whether bathed in perspiration or drenched with rain, 
he never changed his clothing. With him this was not 
affectation. He was honestly endeavoring to harden 
himself against the changes of the weather, and the 
training he had received during the preceding years 
enabled him to bear such hardships. Sometimes, how- 
ever, he paid the penalty of what some would call his 
imprudence. In the vacation of 1862 he went on a 
two-days' trip, and was caught in a driving rainstorm 
which lasted the entire time. He slept, as was his cus- 
tom, in his clothing, and as a consequence his lungs 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 65 

became affected and an obstinate cough set in which 
threatened to severely injure his health. His mother 
noticed how pale and worn he had become, but neither 
she nor any of the family knew until a long time after- 
ward how narrowly he had escaped a lingering illness. 
His cough he concealed from them by not allowing 
them to visit him for three weeks. During this period 
he attended to his ordinary duties. " For three 
months," he wrote to his old tutor, " I have been suffer- 
ing with a severe cold, and it looks as if it were to 
remain with me. It fatigues and wears upon me, but 
that does not matter." 

As the day of ordination drew near, his love of 
privation grew more intense. At Meudon he selected 
for his cell a small room immediately under the roof, 
where it was so insufferably hot that at night he was 
often obliged to seek a little fresh air through the nar- 
row opening which served as a window. He learned 
to do with little sleep. Taking advantage of the gen- 
eral permission, he did not retire until ten o'clock, and 
at Meudon, where the rule was more relaxed, his many 
duties kept him from bed until eleven. Yet he always 
arose at four in the morning and during the vacations 
even earlier. 

The apostle must be obedient. Regretting that he 
was not under religious obedience, he hastened to make 
a vow of obedience to his Superior and director, Father 
Albrand — submitting to him everything, his studies, 



66 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

his works of zeal and charity, his mortifications, his 
visits, and even his correspondence. From his second 
year in the Seminary he was truly dead to self and 
filled with a spirit of sacrifice. 

The apostle must suffer contempt. He was naturally 
of a proud disposition, and shrank from humiliation, 
as his letters to his friends at the Seminary clearly 
show, and yet he was resolved not to yield to this weak- 
ness. He sought the most humble occupations, per- 
formed the most menial services. He felt that he 
could not consider himself a missionary, until, like the 
saints, he had courted the contempt of others. One 
day while out walking with the community in one of 
the market-places of Paris, his grotesque appearance 
in the shabby cassock which he always wore, and the 
awkward walk he assumed, brought upon him taunting 
remarks from the passers-by, and in this he rejoiced. 

People of the world associate sadness with mortifi- 
cation ; in their judgment an austere life must be a 
gloomy and desolate one. In this they make a mistake. 
It is well known that cheerfulness is characteristic of 
those who practice self-denial, and Just was no excep- 
tion to the rule. After one year in the Seminary at the 
Rue du Bac he wrote to this same tutor : " I feel here 
as I never did at Issy. I am really so very happy that 
it seems like a dream." And yet, as if to show that 
the saints are only human, he confesses to his brother 
that there were moments when his heart was wrung at 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 67 

the thought of leaving his family and friends forever. 
" I can not think without shuddering," he writes, " of 
the time when I must bid farewell to all — parents, 
relatives, and country. Oh, how incapable I would be 
of making such a sacrifice if left to myself! Without 
God's grace it would be impossible — but I have confi- 
dence and He will help me. Is not this a case in which 
we must repeat the words of St. Ambrose : ' The saints 
were not different to us, except that they were more 
faithful to the graces bestowed upon them ' ? " 

The end of this first year was marked by a painful 
trial. Having been given the tonsure before entering 
the Rue du Bac, he expected to receive Minor Orders 
at the Trinity ordinations as is the custom of St. Sul- 
pice, not knowing that the rule of the Seminary of 
Foreign Missions requires the student to pass an entire 
year in the house before receiving any Orders. The 
names were called and his was not among them, and 
for the moment he thought that his Superiors did not 
think him qualified for the work of the foreign mis- 
sions. To his brother he imparted the disappointment 
he felt and what it meant for him. 

" I have been for two days bowed under the weight 
of this trial, which seems to me inexplicable. On 
searching my heart I can not doubt my vocation. How- 
ever, before speaking to my director and confiding to 
him my sorrow, I will offer to God the entire sacrifice 
of my hopes, if needs be, and submit myself to His 



68 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

will. I am in a state of constant unrest; it seems to 
me that I must be a missionary. My nights are sleep- 
less; when I feel myself growing too despondent and 
grieved, I softly hum some hymn or canticle in honor 
of the Blessed Virgin, to whom I have committed my 
interests. This calms me and restores my courage. I 
then feel better disposed to comply with all that the 
good God desires of me." And his brother adds : " It 
was not until after reducing his poor heart, if not to a 
state of indifference, at least to complete resignation, 
that he made known his trouble to Father Albrand. 
The latter immediately explained the cause that de- 
layed his ordination to the Christmas ember days." So 
was he lifted up again to the heights. 

The following year, when, with joyful soul, he was 
preparing for the sub-diaconate, a trial of another 
nature threatened his peace. Misled by some gossip he 
had heard, a priest of the diocese of Dijon, imagining 
that his virtue did not measure up to the high standard 
the Church requires of the sons devoted to her service, 
wrote him a severe letter, charging him with rashness 
in continuing in a course of life to which he had not 
been called by God. This was a warning to him, it 
said, which he would do well to heed even as the voice 
of God, urging him to repent and stop on the brink of 
the precipice. Troubled at first at this language, Just 
once more questioned his heart. " Thou knowest, my 
God," said he, " whether my intentions are pure, and 




JUST'S FAVORITE WALK IN THE WOODS. 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 69 

whether I have ever loved anything but Thee." Re- 
covering his tranquillity by prayer, he fearlessly cast 
aside the last obstacle that could have turned his steps 
from the priesthood. 

When a soul has yielded itself entirely to God it is 
not content until others are imitating its example and 
enjoying its happiness. Charity urges it on, almost 
beyond the power of resistance, and inexperience some- 
times leads it into measures that prudence would con- 
demn. The fault, however, may be excusable in one 
who has had but little acquaintance with souls and their 
weaknesses, and who has not learned how to discern 
the ways of divine Providence. Just's correspondence 
furnishes us an example of this zeal which, though 
perhaps mistaken, time would not fail to correct. Yet 
even here one can not refrain from admiring the ardor 
of the language with which love for Jesus Christ in- 
spired him. 

An ecclesiastic whom he had known in the world 
had entered the religious life, but had not persevered. 
Devoting himself to teaching, he recoiled from the 
responsibilities of the priesthood, and remained in 
Minor Orders. Pious, however, and yearning for the 
vocation he had lost, he envied our young student's 
fervor, but made no attempt to imitate it. 

Just should have contented himself with prudently 
exhorting him to become a priest and thus serve the 
Church in the holy ministry, for there was nothing 



70 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

about his friend to indicate the least qualification for 
the foreign apostolate. But with Just to be a priest 
was to be a missionary. " When I think that in three 
or four years," said he one day to a companion, " you 
will doubtless be vicar at St. Roche's, or holding some 
similar position, it seems to me so strange that I really 
can not comprehend it." After eighteen months at the 
Seminary of the Missions, when he felt more than ever 
attracted by grace to the complete sacrifice of himself, 
this disposition to regard the priest as identical with 
the missionary took a firmer hold on him. He per- 
suaded himself that the ecclesiastic of whom we have 
spoken had stifled within his heart, either through 
weakness or thoughtlessness, a vocation similar to his 
own, and accordingly entered into a correspondence 
with him which reveals his feelings in the matter. We 
borrow a quotation from one of the most important of 
these letters, for the length of which no one will re- 
proach us. In the history of the servants of God their 
own words are always best. He writes as follows : 

" I find a striking contradiction in your letter. You 
say to me in one place :'AmI then of the world? Do 
I esteem anything more than heaven, than the saving 
of a soul ?' And elsewhere you say, ' I am now nearly 
forty years old, a man who has fixed habits of rising, 
retiring, eating, drinking, etc. Ah! truly my whole 
being shudders at the thought you propose ! I can not 
resolve to follow you even to the Rue du Bac.' 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 71 

" Can these two assertions emanate from the same 
person? I can scarcely believe it. If it be true that 
you are of the number of those men who are slaves to 
their habits, of those who shudder at the thought of 
becoming- humble and obedient, appalled at the idea 
of entering- a community — if unhappily you are of that 
number, I tell you that you are greatly mistaken in 
believing yourself not of the world; for he is of the 
world who relies upon anything except our divine 
Saviour. You are mistaken in believing that you love 
heaven more than anything else, for he who prizes 
heaven should trample under foot all those little com- 
forts of which you speak ; he heeds God's voice when 
it calls him, and does not say, as you do, ' I feel within 
me something urging me to go with you to China or to 
Cochin China, and yet I can not resolve to accompany 
you even to the Rue du Bac' I also tell you that you 
deceive yourself more deeply still if you believe that 
you value an immortal soul above anything else, for 
that Christian who realizes the value of a soul, and 
loves nothing so much as to work for its salvation, will 
make every sacrifice to accomplish his absorbing pur- 
pose. Imagine his astonishment if some one said to 
him : ' But consider ! You have your regular habits of 
eating, drinking, rising, retiring — and all these you 
must give up if you desire to save that soul ! ' Would 
he for a moment look upon these as sacrifices ? Can he 
who realizes the value of a soul think of anything else? 



72 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

If there is anything in the world that can urge one to 
stop at nothing, it is love for souls, since this love can 
not be separated from the love one bears Jesus Christ. 
Filled with this holy love, this holy longing, nothing 
can arrest his course, no sacrifice can deter him. Rather 
he strives unceasingly after sacrifice, and sorrows when 
he can make none. Nor, seeming paradox, does he 
really make any. He believed it a sacrifice when he 
left his family. It was not — it was a holocaust of joy. 
He believed it a sacrifice when he bade farewell to those 
places to which he was attached ; when he bade fare- 
well to friends so dear that at one time it seemed im- 
possible to live without them ; when he put aside ambi- 
tions which others struggle to accomplish. Sacrifices 
they were, perhaps, but sacrifices which gave him a 
foretaste of the coming joys of heaven. Love for souls 
possesses all his thoughts ; he crosses the widest seas, 
never dreaming of the perils which he will meet; his 
heart is filled with joy if God leads him into places 
where his life is in danger ; he can not restrain his 
song of exultation at beholding himself exposed to 
persecution, threatened with the sword, even at the 
point of death from famine, from fatigue, from sorrow. 
And yet with all this he believes that he has suffered 
little, because there are souls still blind to grace. He 
beseeches Our Lord to make him suffer more ; this love 
of suffering is a consuming thirst, which nothing ap- 
peases, for he is on fire with love of God ! 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 73 

" Behold, then, the picture of one who prizes a soul 
at its real value — the true servant of God, whom Our 
Lord will not deny at the Last Day. I pity those 
who, through contempt or neglect of grace, are not as 
he whom I have just described to you, for their last 
hour will be terrible. 

" And on which side do you range yourself, you, who 
confess yourself in bondage to miserable little habits? 
The fear of submitting to the sweet yoke of obedience 
renders you deaf to the appeals of a poor soul which a 
little courage on your part might save from hell! I 
think this a grave question, even if you fail to agree 
with me. 

" You promised to ask for me the signal grace of 
martyrdom, on condition that I would ask the same for 
you. But can you believe that God would grant such 
a favor, such a priceless reward, to one who will not 
sacrifice even a few moments of repose, a few creature 
comforts, to His glory? Often He refuses this crown 
to hundreds of missionaries who, hoping to win it, 
have consecrated themselves unreservedly to Him. 
Nor, let me remark, must we deem God unjust in re- 
fusing them this grace, for although He denies them 
the honor of shedding their blood for Him, and thus 
gaining an immortal crown, He reserves for them an- 
other crown not less glorious — the martyrdom of thirty 
years of mission life: this, yes, and a shorter time, is 
equal to the martyrdom of blood. And surely God will 



74 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

not lavish the grace of martyrdom on one who will 
make no sacrifices for Him: Do you not know that 
martyrdom is the heroic act of love ? How, then, could 
he be a martyr who does not love? And he does not 
love God who loves anything except God. 

" Pardon me for saying it, but it seems to me that 
if I were in your place, I would not dare to ask for 
martyrdom when I was unwilling to sacrifice anything 
to obtain it. Forgive me for saying all this, but I must 
tell you what I think. Moreover, I should blush at ap- 
proaching the holy table if, hearing within me a voice 
urging me to give myself entirely to God, I made reply, 
' Yes, my Jesus, Thou hast given Thyself to me unre- 
servedly, unconditionally, Thou hast descended into 
the vile depths of my heart, Thou hast submitted Thy- 
self to me, begging in return only that I give myself 
to Thee. Thou dost urge me to this in the gentlest, 
sweetest manner, promising me Thy love in return. 
Thou speakest to me as a friend to a friend, a brother 
to a brother, showing me all that Thy love has inspired 
Thee to do and to suffer for me. Yet I can not respond 
to Thy invitation ; some things hold me back and come 
between us — my comforts, my conveniences ; I am 
more attached to them than to Thee ! ' 

" A true picture this, my dear friend, nor do I think 
that I have exaggerated. No doubt you will imagine 
that I am displaying a lack of judgment in this matter, 
but I fear this is rather the case with you than with 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 75 

me. You asked me to speak frankly. I have tried my 
best to do so, urged to it solely by the desire of God's 
greater glory and the good of your own soul. 

" Tell me what you think of my words. With what 
ideas do they inspire you? May the good God direct 
you, may His mercy overshadow you ! 

" Instead of considering the difficulties that lie in 
your path, cast yourself at God's feet, humble yourself 
before Him, acknowledge that heretofore you have 
been slothful and lukewarm in His service. Ask His 
pardon for your weakness, and then have confidence 
and courage, for God Himself will assist you. Pray, 
pray much and earnestly, for it is in prayer you will 
find the necessary strength. I think of you all the time, 
I can almost say, without exaggeration, day and night. 
I pray for you all I can, and I feel certain that God 
will rouse you from your indifference. But you must 
do something yourself. God wishes you for Himself; 
give yourself to Him, then, without reserve, and He, 
in turn, will not fail to reward you even on earth, for 
the missionary's temporal reward always outweighs 
any sacrifice he could make. 

" You wished a long letter, dear friend, and I think 
you have reason to be satisfied. God grant that you 
may be satisfied with its contents. There are still some 
things that I should like to say to you, but our good 
Mother knows how to inspire you with more generous 
thoughts than I can. 
6 



76 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

" I must now finish my letter, not, however, until I 
say that I have written from my very heart; so that 
whatever offends you, or whatever you find reprehensi- 
ble in my words must be attributed to me alone. Be- 
hold at your feet your poor, proud, miserable friend, 
always the same, or, more truly, even more miserable 
than ever. I really wonder how, considering my own 
spiritual poverty, I have been able to speak to you as 
I have. The sole desire of procuring your happiness 
has urged me to it. If you need prayers, I have still 
greater need of them, and the good God must be merci- 
ful indeed to suffer my presence in this house. There 
is no one here who has offended Him so much as my- 
self ; hence I should ever do penance and, above all, 
implore pardon unceasingly. Pray much for me, then, 
in view of my spiritual needs, for the future mission- 
ary's charity and affection should, like his divine Mas- 
ter's, embrace the whole world, and you know how 
lacking I am in these virtues. You may rest assured 
of my prayers for you ; there is nothing I would not 
do to increase your happiness. Ever yours in Jesus 
and Mary." 

This letter is dated July 12, 1862. The writer was 
then but twenty-four years old, and he had had no 
experience of the world ; he had been in the Seminary 
of the Missions scarcely more than a year, and had not 
yet received Minor Orders. This alone would suffice 
to excuse what might be called his intemperate zeal. 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 77 

And yet we must admire the work of grace which, in 
so short a time, fired this faithful soul so that he was 
unable to understand how any one could be a stranger 
to perfect sacrifice and perfect love. 

If such was his zeal in endeavoring to draw his 
friend to the apostolic vocation, one can well imagine 
what an influence he must have had upon those closely 
associated with him in the Seminary. To this all his 
fellow-students, afterward missionaries, have testified 
in the letters which they wrote to his parents on hear- 
ing of his martyrdom. We borrow some extracts 
from one of these letters, which will serve as a speci- 
men of all the rest. The writer says : 

" That I have persevered in my vocation is, under 
God, due to him. I entered the Seminary of the Mis- 
sions in September, 1863, and on the day of my arrival 
I was taken to Meudon. This first day, spent in visits 
to the reverend directors and to my new brethren, 
passed pleasantly. But next morning, finding myself 
alone, I directed my steps toward the woods, filled with 
sadness at having left my friends, my family, and 
above all, my mother, who had been a sufferer from 
paralysis for the past six years. Soon I was joined 
by your holy son who, with a smiling countenance, 
affectionately greeted me. Learning the cause of my 
sadness he graciously and patiently listened to me, and 
his gentle, encouraging words quickly brought peace to 
my soul. Later on, I was again troubled and beset by 



78 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

temptations, and at last, growing tired of the struggle, 
I several times thought of leaving the Seminary, yet 
did not dare to do so. I opened my heart a little to 

Father B ; after which, through him and Father 

D , I was placed in close relations with your son. 

Whenever the memory of my country, of my family, 
or of others whom I loved tormented me, or the tempta- 
tions of the demon threatened to distract me, I went 
to him ; and no matter what the hour he was always 
ready to receive me, always affable, full of sweetness 
and good cheer. Making me sit down, he would take 
a seat beside me on his little bed. ' Silly child,' he 
would say, ' so you wish to go — you wish to leave the 
good God ! ' And then he would speak to me of the 
missions, and of the happiness of serving Our Saviour 
— so gently and soothingly that I would leave him en- 
tirely consoled and encouraged. His charity even made 
him humiliate himself before me to relieve my con- 
fusion, which he saw was the result of my sins and 
temptations. He did this moreover so cleverly and 
represented himself such a sinner, that I was almost 
shaken in the idea I had of his sanctity, and was 
tempted to believe that he had grievously sinned in his 
youth. One evening after Just left us for Corea, when 
I was walking with Mgr. Charbonnier, Vicar Apostolic 
of Eastern Cochin Giina, he spoke to us of the inno- 
cence of Just's early years. I was struck with his 
words, and could not help exclaiming : ' Oh, the de- 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 79 

ceiver! Why did he try to make me believe that he 
was such a sinner ! ' 

" However, he had not succeeded in convincing me 
of this ; for one day, just before the departure of some 
of our brethren for the missions, as I held him by the 
hand while he spoke to another student and myself of 
God, his words were so penetrating, his hand so burn- 
ing, that I could not help thinking, ' It is love for God 
that thus inflames him ! ' Even after leaving us, in 
his charity he remembered me. Besides praying for 
me, he wrote to me, and his letters, precious souvenirs 
of our friendship, came from the Far East to the 
forests of Anjou, whither sickness had forced me to 
return. I have two letters from him in which I have 
the happiness of seeing myself addressed as ' Dear 
little Louis,' ' My very dear little Louis.' One is dated 
from Notre Dame du Soleil (Manchuria) April 19, 
1865 ; the other from Seoul (Corea) August 10 of the 
same year. In both of these he shows his great charity 
in the sorrow which he feels on hearing that I have 
been obliged to return home on account of ill-health. 
He urges me to profit by this trial, and assures me 
that I am not forgotten in his prayers. After thus en- 
couraging me, he adds these humble words : ' And do 
you likewise pray frequently and fervently for the 
poor, miserable creature now writing to you — for him 
whose heart is so cold, and who does so little to make 
Our Lord forget his ingratitude.' A passage in the 



SO THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

second letter shows at the same time both his beautiful 
friendship and his love of mortification. ' Take good 
care of yourself,' he writes, ' for health is very neces- 
sary to the missionary. Mortifications are thrust upon 
him from every side, without his having to seek them. 
This is why the missionary's life is so abundant in good 
for his own soul. Farewell. Write to me every year, 
and may Christ reign in our hearts.' " 

Love for souls knows no difficulties. Although a 
lover of solitude in the Seminary, Just eagerly seized 
upon the occasions offered him to apply himself to 
those exterior works that obedience and custom per- 
mitted. The two principal ones were visiting the old 
people in the house of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 
in the Rue St. Jacques, and the quarries. 

It was really a great happiness for him to pass his 
free time with the poor old men, listening to their 
stories, consoling, and helping them. His touching 
sympathy induced them to open their hearts to him, 
and he made use of this confidence to draw them nearer 
to God. Loving and respecting in them the poverty 
of Jesus Christ, he never showed the least weariness. 
" Oh ! the poor, the blessed poor ! " he exclaimed one 
day, on leaving the house with one of his brethren ; 
" how much more pleasing they are to God than the 
rich ! " 

The work of the quarries, which had been begun 
some time before his entrance into the Seminary, in- 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 81 

terested and occupied him even more than visiting the 
old. The house of the community at Meudon is only 
a short distance from the stone quarries which furnish 
the building material for Paris and its environs. The 
quarrymen spend nearly all their lives here, engaged 
in the hardest kind of labor, forming a distinct class 
of the population in the outskirts of the city. The 
ignorance in which they live tends to make them forget 
God, and all sorts of degrading vices are the natural 
result. The directors of the Seminary, seeing a beauti- 
ful opportunity in this for the young students to exer- 
cise the apostolic ministry, permitted the most fervent 
and edifying of them to devote the leisure of the vaca- 
tions and holidays to this work. Just was introduced 
to it by two of his brethren to whom he was most at- 
tached, and soon, by his zeal and practical charity, be- 
came their model. Beginning with some friendly 
words to the laborers, some questions about the work, 
these young men would gain their confidence little by 
little and then show their interest in a practical way. 
If one of the quarrymen was sick, or if there was a 
sickly member of the family to be cared for, the 
students would immediately offer their help, and from 
their own poverty aid these unfortunates. Just's let- 
ters to his parents at the time are full of urgent ap- 
peals for means of relieving such cases of distress. 
Once having gained the good will of these poor people, 
the young students commenced to instruct them, spoke 



82 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

to them of God, and tried to make them understand 
their dignity as children of the one great Father. Just 
was remarkable for the fervor of his exhortations. 
Always endeavoring to make himself the lowest among 
his brethren, he cheerfully gave his companions the 
precedence on all occasions, and they knew that such 
humility was deeply founded on the pure love of God. 

Before approaching the laborers, he would say, " Let 
us humble ourselves in the presence of God ; and let 
us acknowledge that without Him we would be more 
ignorant and sinful than these poor creatures. Who 
knows but even now they stand higher in God's eyes 
than we, who fail to respond to so many graces ? " 

A letter he wrote to his parents shows his manner of 
proceeding in the apostolate of the quarries. He says : 
" I first persuade myself — and it is easily done — that 
these people are better than myself. I must have this 
feeling toward them. They are men like ourselves, 
children of God like ourselves, and we should speak 
and deal with them as our fellow-creatures, who are 
on a level with ourselves. I seek to gain a soul. I see 
it dwelling in a body worn and broken by hard, ex- 
hausting labor. Laying aside my hat and my book, I 
take off my cassock, and rolling up my sleeves, I seize 
a pick-ax or a crowbar and make an effort to help. 
Once a man is convinced that, although wearing a 
cassock, I am like himself, little by little he is drawn 
to listen to the truths of faith and brought out of the 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 83 

darkness into the light. Were I at Bretenieres, I 
would do the same thing, beginning always with the. 
conviction that I am no better than those I seek to 
help, nay, that they are, perhaps, better than I. Then 
I would act in a frank, straightforward manner, speak 
with simplicity, and show my interest by practical 
charity." Again he recurs to this subject. " In deal- 
ing with the poor and the peasantry of Bretenieres," 
he writes, " cast aside all vanity, all idea of superi- 
ority; work with them, serve them, be one of them — 
and then when you speak of God they will listen and 
believe you." 

To understand this aright one must remember the 
distance that divided the classes in Just's home, and 
how, in order to put himself on a plane with those of 
whom he spoke, he had to eliminate from his character 
every trait, every inclination which he had inherited 
from his forebears. That he did this successfully his 
counsels show, expressing, as they do, the highest 
evangelical perfection. Christian morality valued 
properly, practiced properly, would solve what men, at 
the present time, are pleased to call the social problem. 

Mme. de Bretenieres gives us a little anecdote which 
we here relate, and which will conclude our account 
of the apostolate of the quarries. 

On a cold winter's day Just had gone to the quarries 

with Father D , and missing from his audience an 

old man who had always been punctual in his attend- 



84 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

ance, he inquired for him and learned that he was lying 
in one of the caves in the rocks ill with fever. They 
made search for him at once, an undertaking which 
the gathering darkness of the night rendered difficult. 
Having at last reached an abandoned quarry, they 
heard some one shouting at them in a threatening man- 
ner. It was the poor old man, who, supposing them 
to be robbers, sought in this way to frighten them off. 
After some effort they approached, and perceiving that 
he would certainly perish from cold if left there, they 
took him upon their shoulders, and, in spite of the diffi- 
culties they encountered, brought him to the hospital 
at Sevres. 

But their task was not finished ; there was not one 
vacant bed at the hospital. From door to door they 
carried the sick man, begging shelter for him, and at 
last found an innkeeper who received him for the sum 
of ten cents (all the money they had about them) 
promising them to wait for the remainder and take 
care of the sick man until there was a vacant bed at 
the hospital. It was after eleven o'clock at night when 
the two students re-entered the Seminary. 



I am like a bell that has but one tone, sounding over and 
r again, ' Vanity, vanity, all is vanity, except to love 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS (1861-1864) 
CONTINUED.— EVENTS AT THE SEMINARY.— 
DEVELOPMENT OF VIRTUES.— LOVE FOR POV- 
ERTY.— MINOR ORDERS.— THE SUB-DIACON- 
ATE.—HIS BROTHER'S VOCATION.— EXTRACTS 
FROM LETTERS.— ORDINATION.— HIS FIRST 
MASS. 

We have shown some of Just de Bretenieres' char- 
acteristics. Virtue is a holy habit made up of repeated 
acts, each one of which, in itself, appears of small mo- 
ment. Therefore, we must consider them as a whole 
if we wish to realize the result of daily efforts. So 
that it will be of interest to outline in chronological 
order the principal events marking Just's three years' 
stay at the Seminary of the Missions. Borrowing the 
details, as we do, from his letters, from the recollections 
of his parents, of his brothers, of his fellow-students, 
we shall be obliged more than once to return to sub- 
jects upon which we have already dwelt. The reader 
will pardon us these repetitions in the story of a life 
so barren of incidents as that of a seminarian. 

The first year was for Just the epoch of what he 
called his second conversion, the first, according to his 
own statement, having taken place at Issy. This ex- 
pression, familiar to the saints, astonishes the worldly, 



86 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

and yet it is strictly correct. To be converted is to 
change one's life — one is converted when he passes 
from sin to grace. This conversion the holy young 
man did not heed. But one is also converted when he 
passes from ordinary piety to that higher plane where 
the soul rests in intimate relations with its God. Now, 
a conversion of this kind had marked Just's entrance at 
Issy, and the early part of his stay at the Rue du Bac 
accomplished in him a second and deeper conversion. 
He saw more clearly the aim and end of his lofty am- 
bition, and the means of attaining it. Even his mis- 
takes, the result of his inexperience, show traces of the 
determination with which he strove after perfection. 
Realizing that humility must be the foundation of the 
spiritual edifice, " He began," writes a missionary who 
was one of his fellow-students, " by so humbling him- 
self that he really believed himself unworthy to be 
found among his brethren. As he told me, he dared 
not raise his eyes to meet theirs. The result of his 
interior struggles was a severe attack of illness ; and 
those who had the care of him remarked that the cause 
was moral rather than physical. A word from his 
director restored his peace of soul, and guided him 
aright." 

Wishing to prepare both himself and his parents for 
the final separation, he began by attempting to break 
off all communication with them. But soon under- 
standing that such a course was wholly at variance 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 87 

with his duty toward a father and a mother who had 
in no way, where he was concerned, resisted God's 
will, he resumed his usual affectionate relations. 

Thus passed his first year at the Seminary. When, 
after the vacation of 1862, spent entirely at Meudon, 
he again resumed his studies and accustomed exercises, 
a marked change had taken place. His humility was 
profound, his energy had grown in proportion. There 
was a determination, an indescribable resoluteness in 
his bearing, which was evidence that he appreciated 
the work he had in contemplation. Compared to the 
retiring, timid seminarian who but one short year be- 
fore had crossed the threshold of the missionaries' 
house, he was truly another man. Few are they who 
would in twelve months make such progress in the 
paths of spirituality ! He understood, without apply- 
ing the words to himself, the meaning of the phrase : 
" It is determination, not time, that makes a saint." 

At the Christmas ordinations he was advanced to 
Minor Orders, for which he prepared himself with ex- 
traordinary fervor, realizing that in a few months he 
would be promoted to the sub-diaconate. 

It was during this second year that signs of his 
brother's vocation became more evident. It appears 
that Just must have had a presentiment of this from 
the time of the vacations of 1862 ; for in writing to 
Christian about a friend who had decided to leave the 
world, he says : " So B is to leave you alone in the 



88 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

world, choosing for himself the better part! I think, 
despite the pain you must feel at the thought of losing 
him, that you must congratulate him on having heard 
and heeded the voice of God, calling him to a life in- 
finitely sweeter than any other. Count him happy, and 
if ever, like him, you hear God's blessed voice inviting 
you to accept the same favor, ah! do not close your 
ears to it ; for the cup presented to your lips will be 
sweet, although the first taste may be as bitter as gall. 
If God's designs are not as plain to you as they are to 
your friend, humble yourself before Him, and with 
great fear lead a holy life in the world. In a word, 
while living in a poisoned atmosphere, let your con- 
duct be guided not by worldly but by religious princi- 
ples, even if you are not called upon to embrace a 
religious vocation." 

Six months later he again alludes to this matter, still 
acting with that discretion which fears to thwart God's 
inspirations. 

" In all my advice regarding your studies and la- 
bors," he writes to Christian, " do not lose sight of a 
most important point, which perhaps you do not under- 
stand. I am like a bell that has but one tone, sounding 
over and over again, ' Vanity, vanity, all is vanity, ex- 
cept to love God ! ' Oh ! what a happiness it would be 
for me if before leaving you I could, with God's help, 
make you see the dawn of a day which is yet hidden 
from you. This I earnestly desire for you, a thousand 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 89 

times more than the most brilliant career. Implore 
God from the depths of your heart, every time you 
receive Holy Communion, that He will make you un- 
derstand what it is to live for Him." 

A few days later he writes again : " You seem to me 
like that soul mentioned in The Imitation, ever seeking 
the place destined for it by divine Providence, all un- 
conscious of such a search, and unable to account to 
itself for such seeking. You have not yet come to 
the crucial point; with God's help you must find it 
within yourself. Keep your soul in peace, and your 
search will not be vain; but to hasten the coming of 
the happy day, when you will see things in their true 
light, bear in mind that nothing but God will satisfy 
you, no matter how you may strive to convince your- 
self to the contrary." 

It was toward the beginning of this second year that 
our student was admitted to the apostolate of the quar- 
ries. He announces this good news to one of his old 
friends, already a missionary in Siam, with whom 
during the preceding year he had been on intimate 
terms, and to whom he frequently wrote. Humility, 
self-contempt, the burning love of God, form the 
burden of this correspondence, and one can readily see 
in each succeeding letter how eagerly he sought after 
perfection. 

" Every time you speak to me of loving Jesus," Just 
writes, " I feel my heart deeply moved, my desire to 



90 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

love Him grow stronger. But alas ! how fruitless 
these desires ! always the same cowardice, the same in- 
gratitude ! I realize that there is but one thing I must 
ask for for both you and myself — love. ' Quis dabit 
mihi pennas sicut columbce, et volabot ' Father, it will 
not be more than a year before I am a priest. Can it 
be possible that Jesus will raise me to the sub-diacon- 
ate — I who am so truly vile and contemptible? I can 
scarcely pray, I am appalled at the thought, I tremble 
at the responsibilities I take upon my shoulders." 

We here note his progress in spiritual things. The 
year previous his heart was wrung in anticipation of 
the great sacrifice, the final separation. This troubles 
him no longer ; it is the priesthood, it is fear of his 
unworthiness for this august office, that now absorb 
his mind and heart, a fear which, inspired and en- 
couraged by love, continued to increase in his soul. 
Some weeks before the last ordination, which was to 
take place close to the time set for his departure, one 
of the students said to him : " Just, which occupies your 
thoughts the most now, the ordination or the fare- 
wells? " " What a question ! " he answered. " I think 
of the priesthood only; the other never troubles me. 
My friend, my dear friend, can you realize that I, I am 
going to say Mass?" And at this his face became 
radiant with joy. 

In another letter to the missionary spoken of above, 
we find the expression of his increasing love for pov- 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 91 

erty. " The next time you write to me," he says, " I 
would like you to tell me, if you deem it advisable, 
what the poverty of a missionary should be. For my 
part, I never had any other idea than that of one day 
embracing a life not only of affective but of effective 
poverty. If there had been a Religious Order exclu- 
sively devoted to the missions, and requiring of its 
members a vow of poverty, I think that Order would 
have been my choice. My desire for poverty increases 
daily. It seems to me that all I read, all I see or hear, 
whispers to me, ' You should be stripped of every- 
thing; keep only what is absolutely necessary for 
present needs ; get rid of everything else.' I am often 
assured that affective poverty suffices ; yet, in the 
depths of my heart I feel something which urges me 
to go farther, and everything that I hear to the con- 
trary does not change me. Probably I am talking non- 
sense in thus expressing an opinion of things I do not 
understand ; but no doubt the missions will teach me to 
practice poverty more perfectly." 

He acknowledged later on that effective poverty is 
found in the highest degree in the missionary's ordi- 
nary life, as we learn from Mme. de Bretenieres' notes 
of a conversation with him during his last year at the 
Seminary. He says : " The missionary is poorer than 
any Religious. While the Carthusian knows that to- 
morrow he will receive his allowance of food as he did 
to-day, the missionary eating his frugal meal is never 



92 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

sure of where the next will come from. He is even 
ignorant of the extent of the privations that threaten 
him ; but withal he must be filled with courage and 
preserve his peace of soul." 

The spirit of recollection kept pace with his love for 
poverty, and whenever he spoke of God's goodness to 
him, he always added how weak and frail he was with- 
out Him ; but such is the language of the saints, their 
humility knows no other. 

" I feel most sensibly, and this feeling grows 
stronger each day," he says, " that Our Lord demands 
of me uninterrupted recollection, no matter what my 
duties. This thought is ever before my mind. In the 
depths of my heart I remain strongly united to Our 
Lord, even when engaged in something which interests 
me and claims my whole attention." A letter which 
he writes from Corea to one of his brethren, a mis- 
sionary in Burma, shows us that the humble student 
had really been faithful to this attraction. We read 
the following passage : " Do you still remember how 
God blessed us at the Seminary, and how He inspired 
us to be recollected and to draw nearer to Him? 
When I recall that blessed time, my heart burns within 
me." 

Spring arrived at last, and brought the happy news 
of his call to the sub-diaconate. His soul literally over- 
flows with joy. " For years," he writes, " have I 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 93 

looked forward to the coming of this day — or, to 
speak more accurately, I have never desired any other." 

On May 30, 1863, he took the final step. His parents 
were in Paris, but so careful was he to banish all dis- 
tractions, that he wrote few letters to them ; hence we 
find only a few traces of that fervor which, according 
to his mother, filled every act both at the beginning and 
the end of his consecration. 

The scholastic year was finished, and the community 
went to Meudon for vacation. More zealous than ever, 
and unconscious of the influence he had gained over 
his brethren, Just devoted a large share of his time to 
helping them in one way or another. In consequence 
of this he did not see his parents except at long inter- 
vals, and his letters to them became less frequent. In 
each one, however, he tenderly excuses himself, and 
tempers the blunt, almost harsh language which he 
was accustomed to use even to them, and which he 
deemed necessary for the strengthening of his char- 
acter. 

His brother's vocation had now matured. Under 
the gentle direction of Mgr. de Segur, whom he chose 
as his confessor, his doubts had disappeared and he 
resolved to enter the Seminary at Issy at the end of 
vacation. The elder brother encouraged and guided 
him in this resolution, by counsels and experience 
which he himself had gathered during the past three 
years. Knowing that the time leading up to great 



94 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

sacrifices is one of unrest and trial, he no longer kept 
before Christian's eyes, as formerly, thoughts of de- 
tachment, but whispered gently to him Our Lord's 
wish to His disciples : " Pax vdbis." Peace, peace is 
the desired refuge of the faithful soul when temptation 
assails and its own weakness terrifies it. Later on, 
when Christian will have taken his place among the 
Levites, Just will know well how to urge him on with 
his former energy ; he will aid his brother's soul in 
ascending the steep heights of perfection, depriving 
him sometimes of even the most legitimate pleasure, 
such as the happiness of often seeing him. 

It was peace, too, which he wished his mother ; but 
he does so in plainer language, knowing that she is 
able to bear it, for while her husband and Christian 
were traveling, this generous woman, on the eve of 
giving to God her second and last child, sought the 
needed strength and consolation in a retreat, where- 
upon Just congratulates her in the following words : 

" Our Lord Himself leads you," he says, " in placing 
in your hands the exercises of St. Ignatius. There is 
nothing more to say to you now, except that you must 
read and act accordingly. Our earthly life is indeed a 
thorny one, but nevertheless, to set you the example, 
Our Lord did not hesitate to walk in it. Would you 
shrink from following Him? Above all, keep your 
soul in peace ; do not be troubled by anything you may 
be told or anything that may happen. One thing alone 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 95 

is essential — to love God. And pray unceasingly. I 
am convinced that it is this which Our Lord especially 
requires of you. Words are not necessary: it is the 
heart that prays. Moreover, we must not pray for the 
sake of the joy we find in prayer ; we must love God 
alone, even when it seems to bring nothing in return. 
May the peace of Our Lord be ever with you, my very 
dear mother, and may He grant you the grace to be all 
His even to your last hour! Farewell, my good 
mother." 

Another time he writes to her : " You must find 
yourself somewhat lonely ; but St. John the Baptist will 
teach you that the more one is separated from men, 
yes, even at the moment he believes himself alone, then 
is he least alone. They only who have not given them- 
selves to God find themselves forsaken when cut off 
from intercourse with men. For the true Christian the 
opposite is true. All know this in theory, but very few 
attempt to know it in practice. Mistrusting the bound- 
less goodness of divine Providence, they fear to rely 
upon it, and seek support and consolation in creatures. 

" Silence in the presence of God is the first condi- 
tion for entering upon the spiritual life. You are well 
disposed to advance in this path. If you accustom 
yourself to habits of self-examination several times a 
day, you will soon be able to practice this, even when 
speaking to others, or when engaged in your ordinary 
duties. And finally, after the example of many saints, 



96 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

this living ever in God's presence will become habitual 
to you, and constitute your greatest happiness. Then 
nothing can trouble you. 

" Farewell, my dear mother. I say all this to you, 
but I can not explain why I do it. Take from it only 
what impresses you, and is suited to your needs." 

The vacations were over, and Just had accompanied 
his brother to the Seminary at Issy, where both were 
to enter upon a retreat. Before going into retirement, 
however, there to taste the delights of union with God, 
the elder was mindful of the trial that would perhaps 
come to the younger during these first days of soli- 
tude ; and he hastened to send him these lines, com- 
bining the ardor of an apostle with the tenderness of 
a mother : 

" Do not be astonished, my dear one, at receiving 
these few words from me. If I write so soon after 
leaving you, it is only to tell you once more not to be 
frightened and discouraged during this retreat and 
your first days at the Seminary. If the devil tries to 
disturb you by temptations of weariness and of regret 
for the past, do not be troubled. Do you not wish to 
do everything for love of God? Offer Him then all 
your trials — an oblation which will certainly cause His 
Divine Heart to rejoice. Strive to be happy, no matter 
what contradictions and vexations assail you. 

" And now, my dear one, give yourself entirely to 
God ; let your heart go out to Him — that heart which 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 97 

He craves so pleadingly. Open it to grace, my dear 
brother, forget the past. You are now beginning the 
most beautiful portion of your life, and though I have 
had little experience, I believe, nevertheless, that you 
will realize this later. 

" Pray also for me, for I have great need of prayer 
and my only reliance is upon God's mercy." 

We would like to give our readers all his subsequent 
letters to Christian, showing his efforts to make this 
young disciple a most devoted servant of the Master. 
The following letter, however, which we quote almost 
entirely, gives an idea of the impression which he 
sought to make upon him. 

" You must not feel anxious, my dear one, if I do 
not write to you often, for why should I write so fre- 
quently ? You may reply, ' You are two years older 
than I, and you ought to instruct me.' But you have, 
much nearer to you, One who knocks at your door 
every hour of the day, and who asks nothing better 
than to instruct you ; who entreats you to listen to 
Him, and to keep yourself in silence in order to under- 
stand Him ; for the voice of Jesus can be heard only 
in the silence of the heart. Alas ! both you and I have 
let years slip by, indeed, the whole of our lives, keep- 
ing ourselves far from the good Friend of our souls. 
But now for you as well as for me that happy hour 
which our Master has marked out as the end of our 
estrangement from Him has arrived. And we are 



98 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

both, I hope, always living in His divine presence, en- 
treating Him to forget our past ingratitude and to let 
our love henceforth be as great as has been our neglect 
of Him. 

" What then shall we seek after unless the One who 
urges us to give ourselves unreservedly to Him? And 
remember that we must make no exceptions nor must 
we give any creature the least part of our affections, 
for it is to Our Lord we entirely owe ourselves. All 
our affections should be for Him and even that which 
we give to others should be referred to Him. This 
love for Him, should He grant us the grace to love 
Him, ought to dominate our every feeling and thought, 
so that we neither desire nor will anything beside Him. 
Let us make every effort to obtain this love. 

" Our nature is continually drawing us to creatures. 
Toward some we are attracted in spite of ourselves 
because of the great love we bear them. It is this 
that we must guard against, relying upon grace to 
guide us. It is very easy to know whether the attrac- 
tion we have for any certain person comes from God 
or from nature. If we are not the least disturbed by 
his absence, then our soul is at peace. On the other 
hand, if we are anxious and troubled, it is a proof 
that it is the flesh and not the spirit that predominates 
in our affection. 

" Attach yourself then, my dear one, to no one but 
Our Lord ; everything should be a means of going to 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 99 

Him, and should be used for that end. Should the 
occasion present itself of conversing with some one 
about God, as sometimes happens, take advantage of 
it as a favor which God Himself offers to draw you 
toward Him, and thank Him for it. If such occasions 
are wanting, Our Lord will supply in some way. Our 
duty is to be indifferent to all material things, to desire 
only what God wishes, to keep ourselves in peace, to 
labor to become, by God's grace, humble and filled with 
love for Him." 

Some time afterward, in the month of November, 
1863, when he had already been called to the diaconate, 
Just completes in a little note this beautiful lesson of 
detachment. He writes : " I can not go out next 
Wednesday, as you desire . . . Moreover, on the eve 
of an ordination, it would be unbecoming for us to be 
seen walking through the town without necessity. 
Upon a little consideration you will think as I do on 
this point, even if you should not think so now. 

" Within the next fortnight I will pay you a visit 
of about half an hour ; this will be sufficient for what- 
ever serious matter we may wish to talk about, and we 
should not spend too much time in the mere enjoy- 
ment of each other's society. I would greatly prefer 
that you pay a little visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or 
make some spiritual reading; this will be far more 
profitable. 

" Would you like to attend the ordination ? If so, 



100 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

I will obtain the necessary permission for you. Do 
not attach yourself too much to things of this kind, for 
all such consolations are mere vanity, and it seems to 
me that you could spend this time more advantageously 
in silence and prayer." 

With his parents, he, of course, was not quite so 
blunt of speech, yet even in speaking or writing to 
them he loses no opportunity to prepare them for the 
great sacrifice, at one time telling them in an off- 
hand way the news of the missionaries in the ex- 
treme East — their adventures, their shipwrecks, their 
martyrdom, etc., or in leaving them in the parlor for a 
few minutes to attend to some of his works of charity. 
Occasionally, in his letters, he cleverly offers them a 
serious truth in a joking way. 

" The few days we have to spend on earth," he 
writes, " will soon pass ; and oh ! how joyful will be 
that meeting in heaven, where we may love one another 
in Our Lord without disquietude. No doubt, dear 
father, you will call me a friar preacher again ; but if 
you think that is going to silence me, you are greatly 
mistaken, for I feel so deeply the importance of these 
spiritual matters that I can not forego alluding to them. 
It is a long time since you told me that I was a man of 
fixed ideas. I admit that I am, and I now add that I 
have one idea more fixed than all others, namely, that 
there will soon come a day when you will rejoice at 
not having made of your two boys gallant cavaliers, 




CRUCIFIX IN THE GARDEN OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONS COLLEGE, ABOUT 
WHICH THE STUDENTS GATHER TO SING THE HYMN OF DEPARTURE. 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 101 

but good fathers of families. For with all due respect 
to you, let me say that Christian and I look forward 
to nothing less than becoming heads of families, but 
of a kind that does not give one the trouble of house- 
keeping." 

A few days after this, congratulating his father on 
his feast-day, he writes : " I hope, dear father, that the 
good St. Edmond will obtain for you what is so nec- 
essary for you at present — perfect resignation to all 
that God asks of you. You will probably say, dear 
father, that I am ambitious when I tell you that I wish 
you to become a saint. I do not know how to tell you 
what is necessary to be a saint ; for, as you have justly 
remarked to me, I have not yet the authority to preach, 
consequently I lack the grace given to the preacher. I 
can only lay bare to you my thoughts, asking you to 
take my words at their own value." 

It was with this fervent disposition and this zeal, 
that Just prepared for his ordination to the diaconate, 
which took place during the ember days of Advent, in 
the church of St. Sulpice. 

There now remained but six months between him 
and the great day, and he thought of nothing else. His 
union with Our Lord became closer, his piety more 
tender. Even to the favored few whose visits he still 
consented to receive, his conversations were brief, and 
with his brethren he spoke but little. His words, al- 
ways plain and simple, came from his heart and went 



102 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

straight to the soul of the hearers. When they asked 
of him counsel or encouragement, he recollected him- 
self a moment before replying : " As if," says one of his 
fellow-students, " consulting some one whose words he 
was interpreting." When duties or charity did not 
call him elsewhere, he was certain to be found before 
the Blessed Sacrament, where he spent hours at a time, 
especially during the free days at Meudon. The com- 
munity of the Seminary of the Missions assembled in 
the chapel for morning prayer at half-past five o'clock, 
but he arose at four and a few minutes afterward was 
in the gallery, where he knelt in rapt devotion for more 
than an hour and a quarter, before the usual meditation 
began. Daily he received Holy Communion with an 
angelic piety, and always heard an extra Mass in 
thanksgiving. His day, therefore, commenced with 
more than three hours of mental prayer. During the 
recital of the breviary in common, his recollection was 
so marked that one of the missionaries declared that 
he knew of no better way to enkindle his own devotion 
than by looking at Just as he knelt in his stall. 

A letter which he writes to his brother on Good 
Friday reveals something of the love which consumed 
him. He says : " Ah ! how beautiful yesterday and to- 
day, and indeed all these days of Holy Week! How 
one can plunge himself in the Heart of Jesus, and be 
immersed therein ! One becomes a fanatic, yes, my 
dear one, a fanatic, in presence of these mysteries of 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 103 

love, because unmindful of everything except to adore 
unceasingly. He thus begins his heaven on earth . . . 
Cultivate love in your heart, my dear one ; seek it in 
solitude; listen not to those who tell you that love 
belongs to the coming life ; no, it is for this also ; the 
true life is a life of love . . . Let love be the principle 
of all your actions." 

Love on earth is often but the companion of sorrow, 
because here we are in exile ; but the real nature of 
love is to make us happy. Easter had come, and 
Christian was given the tonsure at the same time that 
Just received ordination. The older brother, hearing 
of this double happiness, pours out his heart to the 
younger. " We must love exceedingly," he writes. 
" Doubtless, we should ever bear in mind the thought 
of our past and present wretchedness, to keep us from 
presumption ; but let not this feeling lessen the joy 
we feel in the wonders which are so soon to be wrought 
in us. Joy should fill our hearts now, joy should keep 
them in profound peace, since we are privileged chil- 
dren, and repose in the arms of Jesus, who Himself 
nourishes, vivifies, sustains, and fills us. Alleluia ! 
Alleluia! The knowledge that we are wretched sin- 
ners, and the salutary fear this knowledge inspires, 
must indeed pale before the rays of that sun which is 
rising in the East, to enkindle in us the fire of divine 
love. Act more from love than from fear, act only 
from love. It is with our eyes fixed ever on the Source 



104 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

of love that we must advance ; and then the years will 
be nothing, it matters not whether we have spent a 
long or a short time in the service of God, for the sight 
of Jesus, so beautiful and so amiable, detaches the 
heart from all created things, and unites it inseparably 
to Him, its Saviour. 

" However, let us understand that this love does 
not consist in sentiments. We should make so little 
account of consolations of this sort as never to be the 
least troubled when deprived of them. You have 
doubtless learned this in perusing the life of St. Teresa 
and also perhaps, from the writings of St. John of the 
Cross — both of which lives and writings I now rec- 
ommend to you to read. You love Jesus when nothing 
can turn you away from Him, when you love nothing 
except in and for Him, and when you are willing to 
make every sacrifice for His sake, not only of material 
things, but also of your mind and heart." 

Bound thus closely by the cords of divine love, our 
young apostle would have hidden himself entirely from 
creatures ; but zeal is the evidence of love, and when 
it commands, the devoted soul joyfully sacrifices every 
wish. It was about this time, the spring of 1864, that 
a new work was offered him, namely, the apostolate 
among the workmen of a factory at Sevres. The ma- 
jority of these being Germans, they were completely 
cut off from the rest of the people by their language 
and customs. A few of the older ones among them 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 105 

had some influence over the others, and had endeavored 
to keep them faithful to the teachings and practice of 
our holy Faith. But they needed the help which re- 
ligion alone could give. Just, who spoke German flu- 
ently, made their acquaintance, and learning of their 
spiritual needs made application to the community of 
St. Vincent de Paul for a priest. The good work 
which he then commenced was afterwards continued 
for several years. 

The ordinations were drawing near, and a last trial 
was necessary to complete in this fervent lover of the 
cross his resemblance to Jesus crucified. His parents 
who, when the final parting came, bore it with heroic 
resignation, were now passing through that period of 
agony which preceded the great sacrifice, and their 
souls shrank, anticipating the separation from their 
loved one. M. de Bretenieres, especially, suffered most 
keenly. Broken down with sorrow, it seemed to him 
at times that Just had mistaken ideas of duty, had en- 
tered upon the wrong path. Torn with anguish he was 
tempted to look upon his decision as a needless cruelty 
toward those whom he was sacrificing, and one really 
unjust to himself. To all the objections of his dis- 
tracted father, Just opposed that gentle and peaceable 
firmness which constituted the strength of his soul. 
But what secret suffering filled his heart! How pain- 
ful were the interviews with his parents! Truly it 
was for him the agony preceding his Calvary ! 



106 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

We give this on the authority of his cousin, then a 
novice at Chaville, of whom he made a confidant. From 
this same witness we here quote a picture of Just's 
soul at the time when the sacerdotal unction is about 
to strengthen the champion for the struggles of the 
apostolate. 

" As to holiness," he says, " Just was not a man of 
reasoning, of analysis, or of theory . . . His sanctity 
was real and the gifts he had received from God were 
of a sterling character. There was in his spirit and 
heart a principle of sacrifice which he determinedly ap- 
plied to his daily life, and which gave to it that seal of 
sanctity which was evident to all who knew him at this 
time . . . How did one so young reach that degree 
of grace which belongs only to those servants of God 
who have spent long years and been well tried in His 
service? How did he so quickly reach the summit of 
the spiritual life? I know not: his confessor is the per- 
son best fitted to judge of this, but I will say that I be- 
lieve that he was by nature essentially good, or, to 
express it differently, he had very few imperfections. 
Grace had been abundantly bestowed upon him from 
the beginning, and he never lost his baptismal inno- 
cence — all of which wonderfully assisted him in draw- 
ing closer to his God. I know that he studied St. 
John of the Cross a great deal. In fact, he walked in 
the way traced out in the Canticles, and I believe it 
was thus he became holy, without any of those reason- 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 107 

ings and reflections taught by writers on spirituality, 
and which we, who are so different to him, find so 
helpful. What I have just said reminds me of an ex- 
pression of St. Vincent de Paul, who, comprehending 
Christian perfection in its fullest sense, wrote to a 
pious soul : ' Oh ! how little it takes to be a saint ! ' I 
also believe that Just's prayer was one long meditation 
if not before, at least during the last two years of his 
life." 

This agrees with the opinion of all who were best 
acquainted with our student at this time, which opinion 
one of his brethren expressed as follows : " Father de 
Bretenieres is such a grand soul that I hope God will 
one day allow him to be canonized, even if He should 
not deign to grant him the crown of martyrdom." 

To describe Just's feelings at the approach of ordi- 
nation we make a last extract from his written corre- 
spondence, and also from his brother's recollections. 

He writes to Father Rabardelle, a missionary in 
Siam : " By reason of my diffident disposition, I am 
forced to live like a hermit ; even though I talk with 
all comers on all kinds of subjects, I do not ever touch 
upon that which most engrosses my thoughts. And al- 
though I feel in the depths of my heart a secret need 
of another soul to whom I can unbosom myself, I can 
find none. Nevertheless I am far from complaining 
of what might be called a spiritual loneliness. It is 
really a great blessing to have no one but Our Lord 
8 



108 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

for witness of what passes in one's heart. And how 
could I complain of anything when in six weeks I shall 
have the happiness of offering the Holy Sacrifice? I 
feel the joy that is pouring in upon me from all sides, 
but I do not know whether I should yield to it. I 
should not hesitate to do so were it not for some rec- 
ollections of my past life, strikingly in contrast to all 
that now fills my soul ! Still, I believe that peace and 
joy predominate, despite my many interior trials. And 
soon I shall offer Our Lord in sacrifice ! Oh, what 
folly for me to dream of such a thing, I who am so far 
from being prepared ! Yet, in spite of all this, ' Laus, 
honor, jubilatio, gloria, deo nostro Jesus! ' Praise 
Him for me, and in my name, for the abundance of 
grace which He has bestowed upon me." 

The following from his brother relates to the last 
walk they took together preceding the retreat for ordi- 
nation : " When at Meudon, Just chose solitary walks 
in the woods in preference to finding recreation in 
those little diversions so enjoyed by some of his 
brethren. He was very fond of retiring to a 
secluded spot in a thick hedge, which had been 
pointed out to him by a pious missionary, him- 
self much attached to it. After the latter's de- 
parture, Just continued to frequent what he called 
his hermitage, spending nearly the whole day there, 
meditating at the foot of a little cross which he 
had set up. Four days before we entered retreat, 



THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 109 

he in preparation for ordination to the priesthood, I 
to receive the tonsure, he took me to his little solitude. 
I can not attempt to repeat his conversation, but I will 
say that it was filled with such extraordinary sweet- 
ness, such peace, and at the same time such strength 
and energy, that I can never forget it. Just's soul lay 
open before me, revealing alternately the pure, sweet 
joy inundating the heart of the new priest, and the 
glowing ambitions of the missionary. This was the 
last intimate conversation I was ever to have on earth 
with my brother. After he had given me some excel- 
lent counsel in regard to my future ministry, dwelling 
strongly upon the necessity of absolute detachment, 
we both fell on our knees before the little cross, and 
prayed together for the missions, especially for that 
one to which he would soon be assigned by his supe- 
riors." 

Before entering upon the retreat for ordination, he 
begged his brother and his parents not to disturb his 
recollection by visiting him. His retreat was one con- 
tinual prayer ; he seldom left the chapel or the gallery, 
where he could be seen on his knees, for hours, ab- 
sorbed in meditation. What passed between God and 
his soul at that time we can only surmise. 

At last, on May 21, 1864, in the chapel of the Mis- 
sions, with ten of his brethren, he was ordained to the 
priesthood by Mgr. Thomine-Dezmazures, Vicar Apos- 
tolic of Thibet ; Christian at the same time received 



110 THE SEMINARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

the tonsure in the church of St. Sulpice. Their parents 
assisted at the elder son's ordination, but respecting his 
wishes, they withdrew after the ceremony without ask- 
ing to see him, thus leaving the new priest free to 
spend the entire day in prayer. 

On Monday, the feast of the Holy Trinity, he cele- 
brated his first Mass in a chapel of the Seminary, as- 
sisted by the venerable pastor of St. Peter's of Chalon, 
who had baptized him, his brother and his former 
tutor serving it. His parents and a few friends were 
present — one of whom exclaimed on retiring : " I have 
just heard Mass in paradise ! " 

Just would have preferred remaining alone with 
God, but after a sufficient length of time for him to 
make a proper thanksgiving his brother went to him 
and asked him to give his blessing to the assistants. 
Answering by a look which seemed a silent reproach, 
as if to say, " It is good for us to be here," he arose 
and silently blessed those who were awaiting him. He 
then retired once more to his dear solitude. 

The preparation of the missionary was finished : three 
years of heroic labor had made of him an apostle ; all 
that remained for him now was to crown the sacrifice. 



"ffe are only pilgrims here on earth. Nothing can satisfy 
the thirst of the human heart save the never-ending possession 
of Him who has loved us so much." 



CHAPTER V. 



THE DEPARTURE.— THE VOYAGE.— SOJOURN IN 
MANCHURIA.— ARRIVAL IN COREA (1864-1865). 

Three weeks elapsed between the ordination of the 
new priests and the day on which they were notified 
of their future destinations. During this time Just 
seemed to think of nothing but the happiness that was 
his. He celebrated Mass, sometimes in a little chapel 
in the Rue du Regard, sometimes in the church of the 
Missions, where his parents could assist at it. The 
remainder of the day he spent in acts of thanksgiving. 
His life was one of almost continual prayer ; he rose 
even in the night to pray. Being in the society of one 
of his brethren on an occasion of this sort, their hap- 
piness so overcame them that suddenly interrupting 
their prayer they prostrated themselves to recite the 
Te Deum. This incident was related by Father Bon, 
missionary to Western Tonquin, who knew more than 
one secret of Just's noble soul. 

What henceforth, however, he ceased to keep secret 
was the ardent desire for martyrdom which had taken 
possession of his heart. Many of his former brethren 
have asserted that he never made known this desire 
before his ordination to the priesthood, his humility 



112 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

leading him to fear that there was something of pride 
in aspiring to such a dignity. This assertion, however, 
is only partly true. In 1862, writing to his former 
tutor and informing him of the death of a missionary 
massacred in China for the Faith, Just adds, as if in 
joyful accents : " So you perceive that martyrdom is 
not entirely a thing of the past." Again we learn that 
a certain student had become discouraged and shrank 
from the vocation of a missionary. Just reassured and 
cheered him, and in their last interview the young man 
thanked him warmly for his tender charity. " Will 
you do something for me?" "With all my heart!" 
was the answer. " Well, then," replied Just, " when 
you pray, ask for me the grace of a double martyr- 
dom." 

These last words, which we have on excellent au- 
thority, seem a positive proof that he aspired to the 
supreme sacrifice, even before he had reached the 
priesthood. Up to the time of his ordination the 
humble student was timid about indulging in such 
thoughts, but from the day on which he first offered 
the blood of Jesus Christ this timidity vanished. He 
could restrain himself no longer. Our Lord Himself 
had given him this generous impulse, and the divine 
will was so evident that he did not dream of gainsay- 
ing it. Doubtless it was this which occupied him in 
those long colloquies which he held with the Master 
he so loved. Never once did he offer the Holy Sacri- 



THE DEPARTURE FOR CO RE A 113 

fice without asking the grace of mingling his blood 
with that of his Saviour. This we know through his 
own letters to some of his most intimate friends now 
stationed on various missions — which confidence they 
have revealed since his death. One of them, Father 
Dubernard, a missionary in Thibet, wrote thus to 
Mrae. de Bretenieres: 

" We often spoke of martyrdom, but this dear soul 
deemed itself unworthy of asking this grace. ' I am 
not of the wood of which martyrs are made,' he would 
say ; ' martyrdom requires innocence in its victims, and 
you know what I am.' But scarcely had he descended 
from the altar for the first time than his language 
changed. ' Ask for martyrdom,' he writes to me ; ' it 
is God's will that we implore this favor. Do we not 
daily address to Him the prayer to let us form part 
of the company of the holy apostles and martyrs ? ' " 

The day at last arrived when our priests were to 
become missionaries. The Society of Foreign Mis- 
sions is a congregation whose members are not bound 
by vows ; each one is free to leave, but should he re- 
main, he must forever practice religious obedience. 
Hence, up to the last moment, the priest is in complete 
ignorance of the field of labor to which he is assigned, 
this being decided by the council of directors after de- 
liberation, a study of the respective needs of each mis- 
sion, and the qualifications of the man they would send 
to it. 



114 THE DEPARTURE FOR CORE A 

On this point Just was perfectly indifferent. Hav- 
ing once and entirely renounced his will he would not 
make half sacrifices. When told of his destination, he 
manifested great joy, which several of his brethren 
attributed to the fact that this mission was a particu- 
larly perilous one, but when questioned by one of his 
most intimate friends he declared that he really had no 
preferences, and that he rejoiced when told of his 
destination because this knowledge was to him the 
expression of God's will. 

At the end of a conversation with the Father Su- 
perior on June 13, the latter said in a joking manner: 
" Suppose I tell you now your mission field ? " "I 
am ready, Father," replied Just. " Where would you 
prefer being sent?" "I have no choice." "Well, 
then, I will send you to Thibet." " Very well, Father." 
" No, you shall go to Tonquin." " Excellent." " I 
mean to send you to China." " Just as you please." 
" Now, let us be serious," said Father Albrand, sud- 
denly, his countenance changing. " Ah ! if you are in 
earnest, Father, that is another thing," said the young 
man, falling on his knees ; " let me listen to your 
words as to God's commands." " You are going to 
Corea." " It is what I should have chosen," modestly 
replied Just, and then immediately withdrew. 

It was now indeed that the new missionary's joy 
burst forth. He says : " I believe that Our Lord has 
given me the better part ; for just now this is one of 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 115 

our best, if not indeed the very best of our missions — 
one of those where it is easiest to spend one's self for 
Jesus' sake. Corea forever, land of martyrs ! True, at 
present there is no open persecution there, but sweat 
replaces blood. There is so much work that one is 
worn out by it." 

Here was the secret of his happiness, but he did not 
rejoice alone. Three of his brethren, Fathers Beaulieu, 
Dorie, and Huin were appointed to the same mission 
and they, like himself, were destined to receive the 
crown of martyrdom. One of them, Father Dorie, was 
not told at first the country to which he was going, but 
merely that he would be with Just. His joy at this 
news was so great that he went about the house saying 
to all whom he met, " What happiness for me ! I am 
to accompany Father de Bretenieres ! " 

After returning thanks to God, Just began immedi- 
ately to learn something of his mission, studying every- 
thing relating to Corea, and making all preparations 
for his departure. For the latter, however, he did not 
make the provision he could easily have done from the 
means which his parents would gladly have given him. 
On the contrary, never did his spirit of poverty and 
love of detachment shine forth more clearly than now ; 
and of this we will soon give some touching proofs. 
Unselfishly he charged himself with providing for his 
companions' wants as well as his own, procuring all 
the articles that were strictly necessary for a traveler, 



116 THE DEPARTURE FOR CORE A 

and would be useful likewise for the missionary. He 
asked his mother to look upon his three companions as 
her three sons, knowing that their families were poor 
and unable to assist them in a pecuniary way. Said 
one of them, " He put all in common between us, even 
his mother's purse." The four " Coreans," as they 
were called, were one in heart and soul, and had prom- 
ised one another to accept only what could be shared 
by all four, with the exception of money, which they 
despised. 

Once the poor mother thought she had succeeded in 
making her son accept a keepsake. Possessing a relic 
of the true Cross, she offered it to Just. It was indeed 
a tempting possession to one so pious, and he was ap- 
parently overjoyed with such a treasure ; he accepted 
the relic and had it transferred to a new reliquary to 
guard its authenticity. The delighted mother, going 
to Issy to see her second son, acquainted him with the 
good news. 

" Ah ! " said Christian, " either I do not know my 
brother, or your gift will soon be returned to you." 

His words came true. On her next visit to the Rue 
du Bac, Just hastened to her at the first summons, 
holding the relic in his hand. " Dearest mother," said 
he, " I beg you to take this back ; I wish to possess 
nothing of my own." 

To many people such detachment would indicate a 
lack of feeling, a too severe austerity, if you will. They 



THE DEPARTURE FOR CO RE A 111 

who think so know not what is exacted of His chosen 
ones by Him who desires to be their only treasure, and 
our holy missionary's mother was lofty enough of soul 
to comprehend this exalted lesson. Far from finding 
in her memoirs, from which we borrow this anecdote, 
the least complaint of Just's conduct here, we learn 
that from the day he knew of his appointment to 
Corea he changed in his manner toward his parents, 
and gladly gave them all the time at his disposal. He 
had them assist at his Masses, he saw them frequently, 
he charged them with most of his preparations for de- 
parture, wishing in this way to distract them from 
their grief. He even allowed himself to be photo- 
graphed, a thing he had heretofore always refused to 
do, and gave these photographs, with his autograph, 
to some of his friends. He stayed a whole day with 
them at their apartments in Paris, a precious but a 
painful day indeed, despite his efforts to make it other- 
wise ; on another occasion he took his brother to Meu- 
don to spend an entire holiday with him. But though 
making himself so accessible to his dear parents, he 
was equally anxious to avoid all other visitors, and 
even begged his father and his brother to keep them 
away. 

" If you only knew," he would say, " the great need 
one has of living with God at such a time as this ! " 
Finally, during the week preceding the departure, feel- 
ing himself drawn to deeper recollection, he requested 



118 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

his parents also not to visit him during those few days' 
retreat. 

" God will reward you a thousandfold," he writes to 
his mother, " for the sacrifice you make in thus allow- 
ing me to remain in solitude, as far as possible under 
the circumstances to prepare myself for my departure." 
Such is the spirit of the saints ; exterior actions are of 
little account in their eyes ; it is the interior they value. 
To go to the ends of the earth does not occupy or dis- 
tract their thoughts ; to them the one essential thing is 
to watch ever over their hearts, that they may keep 
the first place for God and for Him alone. 

July 15 had come — the day fixed upon for the leave- 
taking. M. and Mme. de Bretenieres went that morn- 
ing to assist at the Mass for the community celebrated 
by Just in the Seminary chapel. In appointing him to 
say this Mass, the venerable Superior had thus re- 
sponded to a secret desire of many of Just's fellow- 
students, who longed to receive Communion from his 
hand at the moment of separation. We borrow M. de 
Bretenieres' account of the last parting, expressed in 
language unsurpassed for simplicity and pathos. 

" We went to the Rue du Bac at six o'clock in the 
morning," he says, " there to receive from the hands 
of our child that divine Food which alone could give 
us strength to sustain the last farewells. Oh! how 
shall I speak of the emotions that filled our very souls ! 
And yet in offering my son as a sacrifice I have always 




AT DIJON.— THECATHEDRALOFST. BENIGNE, IN WHICH WAS PRONOUNCED 
THE FUNERAL ORATION OF THE YOUNG MARTYR. 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 119 

tried to soften my grief with the thought that Provi- 
dence may some day bring him back to us to close our 
eyes. 

" After Mass we went to the parlor, where Just soon 
joined us. The conversation was not long. We were 
standing like travelers who, meeting one another on 
the road, were merely exchanging a few greetings 
before parting. We had restrained our emotions up 
to this, but the least word would have overcome us. 
We knelt to receive his last blessing and then, pressing 
him to my heart, I tore myself from his arms. Thanks 
be to God ! Our parting had been as that of Christians 
should be — without violent outbursts — without tears." 

Mme. de Bretenieres, in her notes, recurs to her hus- 
band's account and adds only these words: 

" Day of sad, sad remembrance ! That other day 
on which they told me of his martyrdom and his en- 
trance into eternal happiness, was certainly less pain- 
ful." 

The ceremony attendant upon the departure of the 
missionaries took place in the evening, and Just, dread- 
ing the effect upon his parents, his father especially, 
gently and respectfully counselled them not only not 
to come to the ceremony, but not to accompany him 
to the depot. They came, however, but took a place 
in the gallery, and did not approach their son. 

A few minutes before the ceremony, a friend from 
Dijon went to Just's cell to see him, and found the 



120 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

missionary very calm. " Pray for me," said Just, 
" yes, pray ; pray that I may obtain what I desire." 
This desire was undoubtedly martyrdom. 

At four o'clock the community assembled in the 
garden at the foot of the statue of Our Lady, Queen 
of martyrs. Here the students and the missionaries 
sang the litanies and the hymn of departure which 
Gounod had composed for the occasion. Just's counte- 
nance, very pale a moment before, now grew radiant 
with color, his brightening eyes and his clear, ringing 
voice attracting the attention of the spectators, many 
of whom remarked his expression of heavenly joy. 

The missionaries that were to leave were ten in num- 
ber. Entering the church, they ranged themselves, 
standing, on the altar steps, while the choir chanted 
this verse of the psalm : " How beautiful are the feet 
of them who bear good tidings, the evangel of peace ! " 
At the same time all the students, and the men in 
the aisle, came forward to kneel before them, kiss their 
feet, and rising, embrace them. 

Just stood on the epistle side ; his carriage was firm 
and erect, his arms were crossed, his eyes were raised 
to heaven with an expression of angelic peace. Writes 
a person who was present : " On his radiant face could 
be read rather the joy of one returning home than 
grief at forever departing." To each of his friends, 
on embracing him, he said a few tender words and 
asked their prayers. When Christian had kissed his 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 121 

brother's feet, Just raised him up and pressed him to 
his heart, saying with a smile as he did so, " Courage, 
courage ! Often recall my words, ' Jesus in the Most 
Holy Sacrament ! Jesus forever ! ' " and Christian 
adds in his memoirs, " I knew that at this moment my 
father and my mother were making the sacrifice of 
their son to God, and reciting aloud the Te Deum. It 
was the triumph of grace over nature. The ceremony 
was at an end, the crowd had dispersed. In passing 
through the Seminary again, I once more caught sight 
of Just, surrounded by a number of students. I ex- 
tended my hand to him ; he pressed it, saying ' Good- 
by ; it is over,' with a look that seemed to tell me that 
heaven would be our next meeting-place." 

Let us listen for a last time to our martyr's father. 

" We descended from the gallery where we made 
the final sacrifice. The carriage, which was to take 
the missionaries to the station was in the yard. Some 
few persons remained, desirous of participating in all 
the tender memories of this day. Should we remain 
also ? We hesitated ; the mother would have remained, 
but the father thought it wiser to quietly withdraw. 
We returned to our house in silence, absorbed in our 
own thoughts." 

Love of poverty marked the missionaries' last mo- 
ments at the Seminary. Immediately before starting, 
Just found two coppers in a drawer. He gave them 
to one of his brethren. Father Dorie found five cents 



122 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

in his pocket. He gave them to the poor. " What 
happiness ! " exclaimed Just, as he joyfully entered the 
carriage ; " for more than twenty years I have longed 
to be poor and now at last I am really so." 

We are indebted to an excellent priest who had 
known him since his birth for some details of the first 
part of the journey — that from Paris to Marseilles. 
The Abbe Pataille, then pastor of a parish church in 
the diocese of Dijon, feeling called to a stricter life, 
was about to enter the Grande Chartreuse for the pur- 
pose of deciding his vocation. Having learned the 
date of the missionaries' departure, he started on his 
journey eight days in advance, in order to join them at 
Beaune. He accompanied them as far as Lyons, 
spending the time in conversation with Just, who could 
not conceal his astonishment that any one should put 
himself to inconvenience to see him. At the Perrache 
station, in Lyons, just at the parting moment, Father 
Pataille confided to the missionary the reason why he 
was going to the Grande Chartreuse. The signal for 
departure suddenly put an end to the conversation, and 
the worthy pastor withdrew, with his face buried in his 
handkerchief to conceal his tears. He took his way 
to Fourvieres, and there the recollection of the calm 
heroism which he had just witnessed settled his last 
doubts. He, too, like Just, offered himself in sacrifice ; 
an unbloody sacrifice, true, but nevertheless one hard 
for human nature — the martyrdom of all his days. 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 123 

Under the name of Didier he edified the Chartreuse, 
and when the hour for making his perpetual vows ar- 
rived he too felt the bitterness of sacrifice give way 
to the peace and joy which are here a foretaste of the 
eternal reward. This transformation was wrought 
during the first week of March, 1866, and the day 
which saw the end of his trial was the day on which 
his young friend won an immortal crown. 

The missionaries passed three days at Marseilles ; 
pious pilgrimages to Notre Dame de la Garde, walks 
on the lonely rocks bordering the coast, " where one 
can silently meditate," writes Just ; an excursion on 
the sea made in such stormy weather and with an ab- 
sence of fear that astonished even the captain of the 
vessel — this was the manner in which our travelers 
passed their time while waiting for the ship to sail. 
At last on July 19, at three o'clock, the Said got under 
way and commenced the journey which would separate 
these young men forever from all that they loved best 
on earth. 

The sky was clear, but the wind blew a gale, making 
the voyage far from pleasant for a few days. How- 
ever, on the morning of July 20, notwithstanding the 
rolling of the ship, one of them said Mass, one of his 
companions holding the chalice and two others the 
candles. Three times a day the missionaries assembled 
to sing canticles and hymns. Among the acquaint- 
ances they made were two young Protestants, mission- 



124 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

aries on their way to Canton. " Poor ministers ! " 
writes Just to his parents ; " they draw near to us when 
we sing a hymn to the Blessed Virgin ; they watch us 
when we recite our Office. I see them promenading 
the deck while we gather together to talk of our hopes 
and our missions. This picture reminds me forcibly 
of the Catholic Church (here represented by ourselves) 
calm and united, and the Protestant sects, swayed by 
every wind of doctrine, as says St. Paul in speaking 
of the errors of his time. We asked them concerning 
their work at Quang Tong — what establishments they 
had founded there, and what progress Anglicanism 
had made. They could give us no information on the 
subject." 

The vessel touched at Messina ; thence they took 
passage for Alexandria. The Suez canal was not yet 
opened, and it was necessary, therefore, to cross Egypt 
by rail, and to take steamer a third time at the other 
extremity of the Isthmus. The trains from Alexandria 
to Cairo bear little resemblance to the luxuriously ap- 
pointed cars which to-day are used to carry a pleasure 
seeking public to the different fashionable resorts. 
Crowded into cars which afforded small protection, 
scorched by the July sun and the glare of it upon the 
desert sands, devoured by mosquitoes — it was thus our 
missionaries were introduced to the trials of the life 
they would henceforth lead. But their light-hearted 
gayety remained with them and the buoyancy of youth, 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 125 

helped by their piety, suggested to them a picturesque 
excursion which would make an interesting memento 
of their stay at Cairo. Here they were to pass but 
twenty-four hours. The day was spent in a ride on 
donkey-back to the grand mosque of Cairo, and many 
were the falls of first one and then another of our 
travelers during the ride. It might well be supposed 
that the coming night would be devoted to a much 
needed rest ; but Just thought otherwise, and when he 
disclosed his plans, seven of his nine companions 
agreed to join him. We quote, from a letter written 
at Suez, his own account of the expedition which he 
conducted : 

" I had read in the travels of Bishop Guillemin that 
on his arrival at Cairo he went three miles from the 
city, to an old tree which, according to all the tradi- 
tions of the country, was the one that sheltered the 
Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph in their flight into 
Egypt with the Infant Jesus. 

" The problem to solve was this : our supper would 
not be finished until ten o'clock, and our Mass com- 
menced at four o'clock next morning. How, in the 
meantime, to contrive to travel three miles (or rather 
six miles, going and returning) through an unknown 
country, guided by Arabs probably no better than 
those that might waylay us on the road. Mentioning 
it to our hotel-keeper's son, a young man about twenty 
years of age, he expressed a wish to be one of the 



126 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

party, at which I was much pleased, as he spoke 
Arabic, and could thus be very useful to us in commu- 
nicating with our guides. Another addition to our 
party, making it ten in number, was a young Indian 
physician who had been educated in our college in 
Pondicherry, and who was now traveling with us, and 
we accepted his offer. Just as the hour of ten was 
striking, mounting our animals fresh for the journey, 
we started off at a gallop, preceded by two young 
Arabs carrying lanterns, and followed by three or four 
others whose business was to urge on those that lagged 
behind. Scarcely had we got outside the walls of the 
city, when from the depths of ten vigorous chests 
arose the notes of ' Ave Maris Stella,' followed by the 
psalm, ' /;/ cxitu Israel de Egypto,' the whole in a de- 
cided tremolo, by reason of our being well shaken by 
the motion of the animals. It would be impossible to 
tell you all the turns and roundabout ways we had to 
take, through the cemeteries, villages, and plantations 
that lay between us and our destination. The narrow 
defiles were many, and although there was room for 
but one at a time to pass, our donkeys were bent on dis- 
puting the passage with one another, two or three 
often darting forward together. On our way we had 
but three or four falls from our beasts, and these so 
trifling as to be scarce worth mentioning. Our 
donkeys trotted and galloped along so well that in an 
hour and three-quarters we had cleared the distance 



THE DEPARTURE FOR CO RE A 127 

between Cairo and our place of pilgrimage. We found 
here a number of Arabs sitting up watching, and dogs 
even more numerous keeping them company. I have 
neglected telling you of the dogs of Cairo, that live 
in the streets day and night, and act as public scaven- 
gers. As we left the city their yelps were heard in a 
most formidable chorus. As we approached the Vir- 
gin's tree our ears were greeted again in the same man- 
ner. Before entering the garden in which this tree 
stands we dismounted. The Arabs preceded us with 
torches, and surrounding the trunk of this venerable 
sycamore which had stood for centuries, we once again 
sang the 'Ave Maris Stella,' and murmured some in- 
vocations. The Arabs were mute with astonishment. 
While we were singing, one of them climbed the tree 
and broke off a large branch which he handed us. 
Each of our party plucked a few flowers and gathered 
a few seeds from it ; and then we started for Cairo, 
but at even a more lively gait than we had come. It 
was midnight. The bright moon revealed the beauty 
of these magnificent gardens, in which we beheld 
palm-trees, bananas, and especially jasmine and sweet- 
scented plants filling the air with their perfume. 

" Our return was marked by numerous falls. Let 
me state at the beginning that I was not of the num- 
ber of the unfortunate ones. One of the donkeys hav- 
ing attempted to jump over a torrent, missed his footing 
and rolled to the bottom, his rider being thrown on 



128 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

the opposite bank. The donkey was apparently dead. 
Dismounting, I approached him and pulled him by the 
tail. He never budged. Finally we left him, but the 
moment he found he was out of danger, he started 
up and began to run. Both rider and beast had been 
only frightened, not hurt; they rejoined the band, and 
thus trotting, galloping, we reached our hotel about 
two o'clock in the morning. We were to rise at half- 
past three to celebrate our Masses, and I alone had 
the courage to lie down. I slept an hour and a half, 
and at the appointed hour in the morning I was in the 
chapel of the Franciscans. At half-past seven we took 
the Suez railway, that miserable road which moves at 
a snail's pace, and can be made to stop anywhere for 
a sum of about eighteen cents. This evening we are 
in Suez, where I end this letter. We dined in the 
grand hotel, near the pier, to the sound of an 
abominable orchestra, which did its best, I suppose, 
and thought we were charmed. For me these are the 
farewells to the civilization which we now leave behind 
us." 

The travelers were going to find civilization again 
on the Cambodia, a large steamer of the Imperial 
Transportation Company, on which they embarked at 
Suez on July 26. All the comforts of life they might 
have enjoyed on this vast ship were absent, due to the 
torrid heat of the Red Sea, and Just congratulates him- 
self on this in a letter to his parents. 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 129 

" It is the very thing needed," he writes, " to prevent 
our becoming enervated by the easy, luxurious life one 
usually leads on shipboard." 

Barring the heat, the passage of the Red Sea was a 
pleasant one. The Cambodia touched at Aden, and 
soon entered the Indian Ocean, where it ran into a 
tempest which lasted forty-eight hours. Long after- 
wards it was learned from Just's companions how ter- 
ribly he had suffered during the storm ; he says noth- 
ing of this in his letters to his parents, but merely 
describes the experience. The only thing evident is 
that he was especially solicitous about the others. His 
letters written on board the vessel are full of anec- 
dotes, and one can plainly see that he was thus en- 
deavoring to keep his parents from dwelling on the 
mournful subject of his separation from them. These 
details, written in a simple, natural style, make pleas- 
ant reading, and we should reproduce them here did 
not frequent communication with the Far East, at the 
present day, make what he describes familiar to all. 
What we particularly remark in his correspondence is 
the tenderness with which it is filled. There was no 
longer need for him to encourage his parents to meet 
the coming sacrifice ; the sacrifice had been made, and 
he now felt it a duty to sweeten the bitterness of the 
cup. It is easily seen that in doing this he follows the 
promptings of his heart; and if at other times his 



130 THE DEPARTURE FOR CO RE A 

manner seemed lacking in feeling, it was because of 
the great interior struggle of his own soul. 

Aden, Ceylon, Singapore, Saigon were the ports at 
which the Cambodia touched before reaching Hong 
Kong. At Pointe de Galle (Ceylon), the missionaries 
landed and took a little rest. A tempest was raging 
in the harbor, and it was dangerous to land, so that 
the majority of the passengers stayed on board. But 
ample compensation awaited the bold missionaries who 
took the risk. On going ashore, they found a Cath- 
olic mission and a church in charge of a Benedictine 
Father. What joy for them to be able to celebrate 
Mass, to assist even at the liturgical office, to sing and 
pray before the Blessed Sacrament! A few lines from 
Just to his parents show the care with which he 
watched over his soul. " I longed," he writes to them, 
" to pray for you especially, and to reanimate within 
me the spirit of piety which had been weakened by the 
bad weather we had experienced and the absence of re- 
ligious exercises." 

At Ceylon the last leavetakings of the missionaries 
began, two of them going on board another ship bound 
for Pondicherry. 

At Singapore there was a new separation, Father 
Groussoux leaving for Siam. As the Cambodia en- 
tered the Saigon River, a voice was heard from an 
Annamite boat going in the opposite direction. " Is 
Father Guerrin on board ? " Our missionaries rushed 




CHRISTIAN AND JUST DE BRETENIERES. 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 131 

to the deck just in time to recognize two of their old 
confreres from Paris, whom they had expected to find 
at Saigon, but whom the storm had delayed. After 
an interchange of messages, letters, and fraternal 
greetings, the two vessels passed on and were soon lost 
to each other. At the thought of this new disappoint- 
ment in Saigon, the hearts of our missionaries sank 
within them, but the fiat was soon pronounced, as they 
remembered that the apostolate is one long trial. 

All their brethren, however, had not left Saigon. It 
is an important mission, the seat of an Apostolic 
Vicariate, and contain a church, a college, and an 
orphanage of the Holy Childhood, where a large num- 
ber of little Annamites were cared for by the Sisters of 
St. Paul. Father Le Mee was there, who for a long 
time was secretary to Cardinal Morlot, Paris, and who 
after the Archbishop's death exchanged the brilliant 
prospects awaiting him in France for the obscure and 
laborious life of the foreign missions ; calm and happy 
in his Annamite costume, he was already familiar with 
the language, and used to the customs of these strange 
lands. Just, who had known him at the Seminary, 
accepted his hospitality, and the two enjoyed a holy 
and delightful interchange of thought and feeling. 
But on the missions as on campaigns, " friends em- 
brace while running," and that same evening the Cam- 
bodia sailed, for it was necessary to reach the next 
port the following day. In the middle of the night, 



132 THE DEPARTURE FOR CO RE A 

which was a very dark one, there was an accident 
which brought out in full relief the sterling character 
of the Catholic captain. As the beautiful steamer 
swept along, cries were suddenly heard, and a number 
of objects could be seen floating on the surface of the 
dark waters. They were the passengers of an Annam- 
ite junk, which, carrying no lights, had been run 
down by the giant, which did not feel even the slight- 
est shock. The engines were immediately reversed, but 
the momentum of the boat was so great that it was 
carried far away, leaving the poor Annamites strug- 
gling in its wake. The captain, being awakened, gave 
orders to have the boat lowered and sent to their 
rescue. " It is useless," the officers said, " we are too 
far away, the night is too dark ; and after all what 
difference will a few Annamites, more or less, make in 
the world ? " The captain's reply was worthy of him. 
" I shall at least spare no effort to save them. I do 
not wish to have their death on my conscience." The 
ship's boat started for the spot, guided by the faint 
cries of the unfortunate creatures in the water, and 
after an hour returned, bringing the eight people who 
had been on board the smaller vessel, safe and sound, 
but completely exhausted from their fight for life. A 
missionary acquainted with their language served as 
interpreter ; and at their request the captain had them 
taken in the ship's boat to a junk which they descried 
in the distance. The Cambodia continued its course, 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 133 

and on August 28, at sunrise, entered the port of Hong 
Kong, after a voyage from Marseilles of forty days. 

The following morning a little American steamer 
took our " Coreans " up the Hong Kong River to 
Canton, where they went ashore with Father Guerrin 
and visited Mgr. Guillemin. 

Just's letters contain a picturesque account of these 
trips to Hong Kong and Canton. The baggage in- 
tended for these ports and also for Corea was landed 
on the wharf. At Hong Kong a clamoring crowd of 
coolies surrounded them, disputing among themselves 
for the packages and demanding exorbitant prices for 
their transportation. The missionaries were at last 
obliged to resort to the only argument which these 
people can understand, namely, the stick. When one 
has the heart of an apostle, he does not strike very 
hard, however, and Just and his companions took pains 
to hit the boxes so as to make a great noise. They 
would have remained in their predicament but for the 
assistance of a police agent, who, armed with a long 
whip, which he freely used, succeeded in dispersing 
the crowd ; then designating the coolies that were to 
take charge of the boxes, and driving them on with 
the lash, he conducted the porters and their baggage 
as far as the mission house. At Canton there was the 
same scene on the wharf, but this time no officer came 
to their aid. Experience served them instead, how- 
ever, and they arrived at last with their loads at the 



134 THE DEPARTURE FOR CORE A 

House of Mgr. Guillemin, Vicar Apostolic of Canton. 
" A poor episcopal place indeed ! " writes Just. 
" Merely some hovels in a line on either side of an 
alley, about six and a half feet wide ! What a bishop 
and a father! As I came into his presence, I threw 
myself on my knees before him, and asked his bless- 
ing." 

Canton had been for our missionaries the end of an 
excursion ; Hong Kong, to which place they soon re- 
turned, was also only a halting-place on the journey, 
whence some of them were to leave for Tonquin, and 
the others for Corea. How much of the unknown still 
stood between and the scene of their labors ! 

Just and the other " Coreans " had intended spend- 
ing only a few days at Hong Kong, but in the letters 
there awaiting them they found new instructions. 
They were to stop at this port a month to avoid re- 
maining in Shanghai, which is very unhealthy in Sep- 
tember. From there they were to go by sea to the 
mouth of the Leao Ho River, and thence by land in a 
southeasterly direction into the province of Leao Tong 
in Manchuria. It was here, in the vicariate of Mgr. 
Verrolles, that they were to spend the winter, and in 
the spring make an attempt to enter Corea. 

He writes to his parents about this new itinerary, 
and we find the tone of his correspondence changed. 
On board the Cambodia he was a traveler, giving a 
witty account of his passage : now, having left civiliza- 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 135 

tion behind, he becomes the missionary led by the hand 
of God. He writes : " Since it seems to be the will of 
the good God that we still continue our wanderings 
for a long time before reaching the promised land, 
may that will be done ! Never have we been happier 
or more joyful than we are at present. And do you 
also, dear parents, be resigned, placing everything in 
the hands of God. We are only pilgrims here on earth. 
Our country on high is very beautiful, and nothing 
can satisfy the thirst of the human heart, small as it 
is, save the never ending possession of Him who has 
loved us so much. I have been told that I was foolish 
to think of going to Corea ; but it is a folly that costs 
little, and is most ag'reeable to the heart of a holy mis- 
sionary, such a heart as I wish mine were, and such as 
I hope it may one day be, through the grace of God." 

The letter then gives some details of the latter por- 
tion of his journey, and finishes thus : " Do not expect 
to hear from me soon. After we leave here, commu- 
nication will be more difficult. Converse with Our 
Lord, who loves you, and who can certainly take the 
place of every one else in your hearts. Farewell, dear 
father and dear mother ; serve God with all your 
strength and beg that I, too, may serve Him. Pardon 
me all the trouble that I have ever given you, likewise 
this lengthy letter, which I write you only because I 
believe it will give you pleasure. 

" Dear Christian, where are you now and what are 



136 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

you doing? I know not, but I think of you very often 
in Our Lord. You know that there is no necessity for 
my writing to you : the essential thing is that we love 
Jesus with all the ardor of our souls. Farewell to all, 
and may Our Lord Jesus Christ give you His peace 
and His joy ! " 

In the latter part of September they took passage on 
a small French steamer, and after twenty-two days at 
sea, filled with many trying experiences, they reached 
a little seaport town in Manchuria, and two days later 
arrived at the house of Bishop Verrolles. 

It was an acceptable rest indeed for our poor weary 
travelers to remain with this saintly prelate, and with 
deep regret he sent them, after a two weeks' rest, to 
their respective stations. Just was assigned to Notre 
Dame du Soleil, the home of Father Metayer, who 
had welcomed the party on its arrival in port. 

Now commenced for Just and his companions a new 
experience of missionary life. They were to spend the 
winter in these barren regions, the climate of which 
is like that of Siberia, and devote themselves to the 
study of the Chinese language, which is used in Corea 
almost as much as the native tongue. 

His letters to his parents during this period show 
the manner of life he led. He spent nearly all his time 
at the house of Father Metayer absorbed in the study 
of Chinese. Always interested in every kind of study, 
he closely applied himself to this new task, so neces- 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 137 

sary for his work. In a letter to his dear friend, 
Father Rabardelle, missionary at Siam, he expresses 
the fear, however, that he was taking too great pleas- 
ure in it. He certainly must have been a saint to re- 
proach himself for such a trifle. From time to time he 
visited Mgr. Verrolles, or some one of his brethren 
scattered about over this icy region, where for five 
months of the year the thermometer registers 30 or 
35 degrees below zero. On certain occasions he wore 
the queer costume of the country, a necessity in this 
rigorous climate — a layer of fur garments over a 
sheepskin, which gave him a grotesque appearance. 
Accompanying the description he sent his parents of 
this costume is a picture of it sketched and colored by 
one of his brethren. 

In midwinter he was deprived of his companion by 
Mgr. Verrolles taking Father Metayer with him to 
Pekin in the interest of the mission. Just was thus left 
alone in his cold hermitage, and obliged to use for 
the ministry with which he was charged the knowledge 
he had acquired of the Chinese language. What 
progress he had made in it his modesty leaves us to 
conjecture ; we judge, however, that this progress has 
been rapid, for three months after his arrival he had 
advanced sufficiently to give instructions to the native 
Christians, and to perform, with the aid of a book, the 
essential functions of the priesthood. 

In thus being left alone, he is happy at feeling that 



138 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

he is in the hands of Providence, stripped of all human 
assistance, having no companion save God, that God 
who rejoiced his youth, and for whom he had sacri- 
ficed everything. It is not in the letters he writes to 
his father and mother that we may expect to find the 
account of his long conferences, during these winter 
evenings, with the divine Master. If his letters to 
Father Rabardelle permit us to enter more into his 
(Just's) spiritual life, we will see again with what 
severity he judges, with what zeal he humbles himself. 

" I am anxious," he writes, " neither about the future 
nor the past ; I am like the horse which is guided by 
the bridle, that does not seek to know whither he is 
driven. And if sometimes, although rarely, too rarely, 
perhaps, I feel a little troubled and anxious, it is only 
when thoughts like these present themselves: How is 
it that, after receiving such great graces from God I 
still remain so spiritually weak, so sluggish, so lacking 
in fervor in prayer, so occupied with earth, so far from 
God, and withal so at peace? Is not this truly an 
enigma? But the will of God be done. These mo- 
ments of fear do not last long ; for right or wrong, I 
seek to dwell rather upon the thought of the immensity 
of God's goodness and love." 

The country was at the time overrun with brigands, 
and Just was obliged to arm himself. Twice these 
marauders paid him a visit by night. On the first 
occasion he was not aware of their visit until he dis- 



THE DEPARTURE FOR CO RE A 139 

covered traces of it the next morning, but on the sec- 
ond matters were more serious. " Guns were fired," 
he writes, " but I pray you to believe it was not by 
me." A little reflection upon these words shows that 
it was by combining courage with the gentleness of the 
apostle, in exposing himself to his assailants' fire 
without returning it, that he succeeded in overcoming 
them. 

While preparing to enter his dear Corea, he took 
an active interest in other missions, in the mission of 
Manchuria in which he was the guest, and which 
offered so little consolation to Mgr. Verrolles' patient 
and persevering zeal ; in those of Thibet and Tonquin, 
already watered with so much blood, and now passing 
through a fresh trial, news of which moved him to 
give vent to his feelings in a letter to Father Albrand : 
" It is very hard for the missions, but very consoling 
for the missionaries, as it gives them a glimmering 
hope of martyrdom. When I think of this I am on the 
point of complaining to Our Lord for not calling me 
to receive so great a grace. I am, indeed, far from 
being worthy of it, but have there not been martyrs 
who were once great sinners?" 

Recent news from Corea told of an uprising which 
had occurred, and which had given promise of better 
days to come for the Christian communities. On the 
eve of going there, Just looked with an envious eye 
on those of his brethren who, he believed, were more 



140 THE DEPARTURE FOR CORE A 

exposed to martyrdom than he would be, and yet at 
that very time, none was nearer the crown than he. 

We borrow from this same letter to the Superior 
of the Foreign Missions a final quotation which helps 
to show the perfect detachment of our young apostle 
before he entered upon his field of labor. " Permit 
me to remind you," it says, " that on leaving Paris I 
placed entirely at your disposal the money which at 
times will be sent you for me. If some of my brethren, 
or even some of their missions, can put it to a better 
use than I, give it to them. I leave the disposition of 
it entirely to your judgment." 

Winter was at an end; the breaking up of the ice 
opened the rivers and harbors, and the time had now 
come when our " Coreans " must make an attempt to 
enter the country. Access to Corea had been always 
very difficult for Europeans, not alone because of 
hatred of the Christians, but because the Corean Gov- 
ernment mistrusted all foreigners — even the Chinese, 
while the Draconian laws prohibited the natives from 
trading with outsiders. Our missionaries were obliged 
to take passage on a Chinese junk, and to pick up 
a Corean vessel at some point on the coast. One had 
been engaged to meet them nearly a year previously, 
but a thousand events could have occurred in the mean- 
time to frustrate their design ; in that case a new at- 
tempt was to be made at the end of July, and if it 
failed, all further efforts to enter the country were to 



THE DEPARTURE FOR CORE A 141 

be abandoned until the following spring. Moreover, 
it was necessary that the young priests should board 
the Corean vessel secretly, for were they discovered 
all would be lost. This same year two Corean vessels, 
although carrying no Europeans, were suspected of 
communication with China, were seized in the Seoul 
River, and all on board beheaded without even the 
formality of a trial. 

Just now touches upon the most solemn hour of his 
life. Filled with courage and determination, he was 
going to force his way into that country where a long 
and useful career awaited him, or the short, straight 
road to martyrdom. This explains the firm, unwaver- 
ing tone of his correspondence. When the cords of the 
will are attuned to heroic impulses their notes are 
strong and resonant. His desire, moreover, was to 
see those whom he loved raised like himself above the 
weaknesses of human nature, and on April 2 he thus 
writes to his parents : " If the good God favor our 
attempt to enter Corea, this letter will be the last you 
may expect to receive from me for a year. I regret 
your having to suffer this little privation, but in a way 
I do not regret it, for it is a privation carrying with it 
the grace of God. The road leading to heaven is sown 
with thorns, and the more our feet are torn by them 
the better will it be for us. Let us pray God to make 
us understand that one hour of suffering here is far 
more precious than a whole year of delights. We 



142 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

never dream of complaining ; on the contrary, in the 
joy of our hearts, we render thanks to God for the 
blessings He showers upon us every moment." 

On April 24 he left his residence at Notre Dame du 
Soleil in company with Father Dorie, who had come 
to join him, the two going with Father Beaulieu to 
his winter station, distant about a day's journey, 
where they found Father Huin. On April 26 all four 
reached Notre Dame des Neiges, to make their final 
preparations. 

May 1, putting themselves under the protection 
of the Blessed Virgin, they started for the port of 
Tsouang Ho, and next day they engaged passage in a 
little junk, manned by Chinese infidels, but withal good, 
reliable men. The sea being too rough to set sail im- 
mediately, they did not leave port until May 3. A 
strong wind bore them rapidly to the shores of Corea, 
but on the morning of the 5th, when land was in sight, 
the wind suddenly changed and they were forced to 
seek shelter under the lee of a little island called Kio 
Tao, fifteen miles to the north of Melinto. The raging 
tempest kept them here for eight days, in constant fear 
lest they be dashed upon the rocks. Meanwhile their 
provisions gave out, and not having a sufficient supply 
for so long a voyage, they attempted to land, but the 
natives of the island repulsed them. One night, es- 
pecially, the storm was terrific, and the junk almost 



THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 143 

foundered at its anchorage. The sufferings of all on 
board were indescribable. 

Despite the peril from wind and wave, the mission- 
aries felt that they must make an attempt to keep their 
appointment with the Corean vessel, and accordingly 
forced the Chinese to put to sea again ; but the latter 
soon losing courage the priests were obliged to take 
charge of the vessel. A whole day's sailing against 
adverse winds and amid a thousand dangers availed 
them nothing, and they were fortunate in the evening 
to be able to regain the shelter they had left that morn- 
ing. Next day the sea was still rough, but the wind 
had changed, and again the missionaries compelled 
their men to put out to sea in a pouring rain. After 
a series of adventures they reached Melinto, at which 
place they were to meet the Corean vessel. 

But there a new trial awaited them. The Corean 
bark which they hoped to find awaiting them was 
nowhere to be found. It had been seized and confis- 
cated by the mandarins. Bishop Berneux, Vicar 
Apostolic of Corea, learning this at the last moment, 
immediately set about finding another and succeeded, 
but the substitute was in such a condition that he 
deemed it a duty to tell the Christians who were to man 
it that they were free to attempt or to abandon the un- 
dertaking as they wished. On the night of May 18 
or 19 they reached Melinto. " Toward eleven o'clock," 
writes Just, " the sea being calm and smooth as a 



144 THE DEPARTURE FOR CORE A 

mirror, we heard a bark noiselessly approaching us, 
and the name of our Bishop pronounced by those on 
board ; we understood immediately that they were the 
brave Christians who had exposed their lives to come 
for us." 

For six days the missionaries had been foiled in 
their attempts. Only twenty-four hours more, and the 
expiration of the appointed time, as well as want of 
provisions, would have forced them to return again to 
Leao Tong. 

The transfer of the baggage was soon made. Two 
hastily written notes, one to Mgr. Verrolles in Man- 
churia, and one to Father Albrand, announcing the 
ending of the voyage, were entrusted to the Chinese 
sailors ; and toward night the missionaries went aboard 
the Corean vessel. They were not yet, however, at the 
end of their trials. 

Sixty miles separated them from the spot at which 
they were to land. Contrary winds and the dangerous 
currents sweeping between the numberless islands 
which surrounded Corea, rendered navigation slow and 
difficult. After five days' efforts they reached the ap- 
pointed landing-place, but the Christians guiding them 
having learned the terrible fate, only a few days be- 
fore, of the crew of the two vessels suspected by the 
mandarin of communicating with the Chinese, deemed 
it more prudent, instead of going up the river, to slip 



THE DEPARTURE FOR CORE A 145 

quietly along the shore, and land forty miles to the 
south. At last, on May 27, after a sail of four more 
days, our poor, weary travelers set foot on the soil of 
their new country, and while repairing to a new 
Christian settlement, they chanted in their hearts a 
Te Deum in thanksgiving. 

" Everybody in Corea," writes Just, " pagan as well 
as Christian, knew that four new missionaries were to 
arrive shortly." They were not expected, however, to 
come here, but it was a joyful surprise, and the wel- 
come these poor people gave them was a most cordial 
one. Mgr. Daveluy, coadjutor to the Vicar Apostolic, 
resided about two miles away, and he hastened next 
morning to receive the missionaries. Without loss of 
time he sent Just to the Vicar Apostolic, Mgr. Ber- 
neux, and took with him that night Fathers Dorie, 
Beaulieu, and Huin, to accompany them to a more dis- 
tant Christian settlement. 

Just, soon clothed in the Corean costume, and wear- 
ing straw sandals, started on a four days' walk across 
the mountains, to surprise the holy Bishop who had 
begun to despair of his coming. His confreres fol- 
lowed him a few days later. 

The period of preparation for the novices of the 
apostolate had ended. From Marseilles to Seoul, from 
July 19, 1864, to May 27, 1865, more than ten months 
had elapsed, during which they had endured all the 



146 THE DEPARTURE FOR COREA 

trials and hardships of traveling, together with the 
anxiety as to whether or not they would be able to 
reach their destination. They had now entered upon 
a new kind of labor and suffering in this field which 
the missionary waters with his sweat and his tears, 
and very often with his blood. 



You have One who knocks at your door every hour of the 
day ; who entreats you to listen, and to keep yourself in silence. 
For the voice of Jesus can be heard only in the silence of the 
heart." 



CHAPTER VI. 

ABRIDGED SKETCH OF THE COREAN MISSION UP 
TO THE ARRIVAL OF JUST DE BRETENIERES 
AND HIS COMPANIONS (1781-1865). 

The portion of the world into which our young 
missionaries had just entered was at that time but little 
known to Europeans. Nevertheless Christianity had 
already made history there — a heroic history, the bare 
outlines of which we lay before our readers. Mgr. 
Daveluy, who set foot on Corean soil in 1845, na d suc- 
ceeded during these twenty years, amid all the pressing 
duties of his ministry, in collecting everything relating 
to the establishment, origin, and growth of Catholicity, 
as well as many interesting souvenirs of its trials and 
vicissitudes. It was from these notes, which he sent 
to France a year before his martyrdom, that the his- 
torical work from which we borrow our information 
was compiled. 

Corea is a large, mountainous peninsula, bounded 
upon the west by an elongated archipelago. It forms 
a stretch of land the greatest width of which is about 
one hundred and thirty miles, and which extends al- 
most regularly from north to south three hundred miles 
parallel to the western coast of China. Italy, were it 



148 SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 

extended less toward the southeast, and were Naples 
its southern extremity, would be a sufficiently correct 
representation of the shape of this territory. Corea 
was a vassal of China until 1895, when, by the treaty 
of Shimonoseki it was placed under the protection of 
Japan. Previous to this it sent an embassy annually 
to China with presents. Nevertheless Corea forms an 
autonomous kingdom, the language and customs of 
which differ materially from those either of China or 
Japan. The Government, up to the period at which 
our story begins, had cut itself off from the rest of the 
world even more jealously than the Chinese. The 
events of i860 which opened China to European com- 
merce could have thrown down these barriers, but the 
heads of the Anglo-French expedition were ignorant 
of the effect which their appearance would have caused 
in Corea. At that time had a war vessel been sighted 
along the shores of the peninsula only forty miles from 
Shanghai, it would have been sufficient to open to civ- 
ilization and liberty this inhospitable land. The two 
squadrons, however, left the China Seas without even 
suspecting what a glorious opportunity they so un- 
knowingly let slip, and six years afterwards the 
Catholic missionaries were still the only Europeans 
who had succeeded, at the risk of their lives, in settling 
among this barbarous people. 

And yet this land, separated from the rest of the 
world by its prejudices, is inhabited by an amiable, 



SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 149 

gentle people, better disposed perhaps than any other 
to receive the good seed of the Gospel. While else- 
where Christianity advances but slowly, even when it 
is helped by religious liberty, the conversion of adults 
is rare. The Church owes its increase, principally, to 
the work among the children in the orphanages, where 
the moral influence of Christian, Catholic truth, makes 
itself felt in after years. The evangelization of Corea 
presents a phenomenon unique, we believe, in the his- 
tory of modern missions, and we find its counterpart 
only in the early ages of faith. 

We justly admire the constancy of the faithful 
Japanese, who, surviving the frightful persecutions of 
two long centuries, guarded and transmitted to their 
descendants the essential elements of religion, and 
kept Catholic truth and Catholic practice alive for two 
hundred years. Without priests, without a hierarchy, 
without any Sacrament except baptism, without any 
apostolate save that of the family, they did this until 
Japan opened her gates to the world, and brought our 
missionaries to these glorious heirs of a Faith which 
their persecutors thought had been wiped out in blood. 

Beyond doubt, it was a memorable example of super- 
natural vitality. Japan, however, had received the 
Gospel from the hands of St. Francis Xavier, and for 
a century Christianity had flourished there. When it 
disappeared from the kingdom, the survivors of so 
many massacres bore with them to their retreat the 



150 SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 

remembrance of a religious life which lacked none of 
those benefits which the Church, when in full posses- 
sion of her freedom, showers upon her children. 

Corea, however, presents to us a spectacle altogether 
different. It was a country cut off from the outer 
world, and it had never seen a priest. About the end 
of the eighteenth century several of its scholars who 
applied themselves to the study of moral truth, acci- 
dentally came across some religious treatises written 
in Chinese which had been brought into China with a 
number of scientific works. In 1783 one of these 
scholars, Peter Seng-Houn-i, who was one of the em- 
bassy that Corea sent annually to Pekin, became ac- 
quainted with the Bishop of that city, the illustrious 
Alexander de Govea, a Portuguese Franciscan, and 
was baptized by him. Returning to his own country 
he took with him religious books, crucifixes, and 
pictures, which he distributed among his acquaintances. 
Aided by his friend, the virtuous Piek-i and others, he 
began to spread a knowledge of the Faith and ap- 
pealed particularly to the most enlightened and learned 
men of the time. The fervent catechists even invited 
public discussions with the followers of Fo and Lao 
Tse, who were at that period very numerous in Corea. 
These philosophical tilts redounded to the honor of the 
Christian religion, which thus obtained at the outset 
a position in the world of letters, whence it was 
diffused among the middle and lower classes. The 



SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 151 

catechumens baptized by Seng-Houn-i baptized others 
in turn. They translated into Corean the books com- 
posed by the Chinese missionaries ; they taught the neo- 
phytes Christian practices — the sanctification of Sun- 
day, the observance of fasts and abstinence, even the 
rigors of asceticism ; they inculcated, according to their 
lights on the subject, the Christian discipline of mar- 
riage ; in a word they established a society of the 
faithful, attached to the Church in China by baptism — 
all this brought about by the devotion of one convert 
who ever remained a layman. 

Such a beginning was in itself a marvel, but the 
sequel is still more surprising. 

The infant Church of Corea had to wait ten years 
for the arrival of the first Catholic priest who pene- 
trated into the kingdom. Repeatedly the Christians of 
this country entreated the Bishop of Pekin to send 
them priests ; but many circumstances prevented him 
from complying with their request. Meanwhile, de- 
prived of spiritual help, and in their ignorance of the 
laws believing that they could transmit the priesthood 
even as they could confer baptism, they consecrated a 
Bishop and ordained several priests, according to the 
ceremonies which Peter Seng-Houn-i had witnessed in 
Pekin. They even made altar vessels for the celebra- 
tion of the Sacrifice of the Mass. Informed of their 
error by the Bishop of Pekin, the so-called priests 
obeyed him with touching humility and renewed their 



152 SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 

entreaties for priests from China. But before receiv- 
ing so great a grace the young Corean Church was to 
render to Jesus Christ her first testimony of blood. 

The imperfection of their theological knowledge, 
which had permitted the heads of this Christian com- 
munity to take upon themselves the priesthood, left 
them equally ignorant of their duty regarding the cere- 
monies held in honor of their pagan ancestors. The 
rites practiced in China had, after many controversies, 
been condemned by the Holy See as savoring of idola- 
try. They were scarcely different in Corea, and the 
people's attachment to them not less than it was in 
China. A characteristic of the Coreans is filial piety, 
and their funeral rites are the principal expression 
of it. 

When instructions on this point arrived from Pekin, 
the Corean Christians had no alternative but to re- 
nounce these ancient rites or the Faith. Only a very 
small number gave up the Church. The rest sub- 
mitted, but the propagation of the Gospel was arrested 
and the profession of Christianity assumed in the eyes 
of the pagans an appearance of impiety. All the ab- 
horrence that the new religion had already aroused, 
all the prejudice entertained against it by the old 
Corean party, now found a plausible pretext for the 
employment of the most merciless measures for stamp- 
ing it out. The first persecution burst forth in 1791 ; 
and the constancy of the neophytes amid tortures was 



SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 153 

wonderful. There were apostates ; even some who had 
endured tortures permitted themselves to be influenced 
by the entreaties of their relatives, or the fear of in- 
volving all their household in a common ruin. But 
many gloriously repaired the weakness of the few, and 
died martyrs in the persecutions which followed. 
Numberless were the heroes who remained steadfast, 
despite the horrible tortures to which they were sub- 
jected. The cruelty of the persecutors but furnished 
these heroes the opportunity of spreading the tidings 
of salvation. The examinations at which the 
Christians were questioned concerning their belief, al- 
ways accompanied with tortures, attracted numberless 
spectators, before whom the confessors of the Faith, 
unjustly accused of impiety or of immorality, unfolded 
in long discourses the various articles of Christian be- 
lief. Eloquently and forcefully they drew the attention 
of their hearers to the radiant beauty of the Gospel, 
and forced words of admiration even from the judges 
themselves. More than one conversion dated from 
these sublime instructions delivered on the rack. 

It was thus the Corean Church prepared itself in 
tears and blood to receive God's messenger, who came 
at last, in the person of Father James Tsiou, a Chinese 
priest sent by the Bishop of Pekin in 1794, just ten 
years after the baptism of the first Corean convert. He 
found on his arrival more than four thousand 
Christians in Corea, and the virtues of virginity, hu- 



154 SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 

mility, mortification, and charity flourishing side by 
side with the palms its first martyr had so gloriously 
won. 

The ministry of Father Tsiou, although exercised 
amid continual dangers, was as fruitful as it was diffi- 
cult. The general persecutions had ceased, but peace 
was not entirely restored to the Church, which was 
still oppressed in some places. The king was opposed 
to violent measures, but the cruelty or the greed of 
the mandarins made many martyrs here and there. 

Five years of tranquillity, broken now and then by 
bloody periods, passed away, and during this time 
Christianity made rapid progress. But the death of 
the king in 1799 and the establishment of a regency, 
gave full sway to the tyranny of ministers and man- 
darins ; and after most cruel preliminaries, an edict of 
the regent issued in 1801 ordered the second general 
persecution. The avowed intention of the Corean Gov- 
ernment was to exterminate the dangerous sect of 
Christians. Father Tsiou, perceiving that the hatred 
of the pagans was especially directed against foreign- 
ers, thought to ward off the danger threatening his 
followers by delivering himself up to his persecutors, 
and after undergoing terrible tortures, he was be- 
headed on May 31, 1801. 

But this generous sacrifice did not lessen the fury 
of the enemies of Christianity. The number of vic- 
tims in the provinces was never exactly known. In 



SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 155 

the capital it exceeded three hundred, both sexes, of 
every condition of life, every age furnishing its quota 
to the army of martyrs ; and the annals of the Corean 
Church grew rich in examples of constancy which 
could be compared to those of Laurence and Agnes in 
the Church at Rome. 

Frequently exhausted by its own fury, the persecu- 
tion would cease for a time, only to break forth again 
with redoubled intensity. Scarcely a year passed that 
did not see Christians imprisoned for their Faith, 
tortured, put to death, exiled, or else forgotten in their 
horrible prisons and left to die of hunger and cruel 
neglect. 

The following facts are worthy of mention. 
Founded in 1784 by Peter Seng-Houn-i, the Corean 
Church had to wait until 1831 for the establishment of 
a Vicariate Apostolic, and until 1836 for the entrance 
into the country of the first European missionary, 
Father Maubant. During these fifty-two years it had 
no external assistance save that afforded by the min- 
istry of Father Tsiou, which lasted five years. For 
forty-seven years it carried on its work without priests, 
without any of the Sacraments but baptism, with no 
preaching but that of catechists ; it passed through the 
general persecutions of 1791, 1801, 1815, 1827; and it 
gave to the Catholic Church more than a thousand 
martyrs, confessors of the Faith, and glorious ex- 
amples of the most admirable virtues. 



156 SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 

Time and again these poor, isolated Coreans sent 
touching addresses to the Sovereign Pontiff, begging 
him to send them priests. Pius VII. received one pe- 
tition in 1792, at the beginning of the French Revo- 
lution, and placed them under the jurisdiction of the 
Bishop of Pekin. But soon the Church in China felt 
the effects of the terrible storm which swept over 
Europe, and the Christians of Corea were swallowed 
up in the general upheaval. In 181 1 Pius VII. re- 
ceived another letter from the faithful Coreans ; but 
this time he was a prisoner at Fontainebleau. When 
peace was restored to the world in 181 5, the Church 
and Europe had many cruel wounds to be healed. 
There were gaps to be filled in the ranks of the priest- 
hood, the wants of the Religious Orders which had 
been suppressed or dispersed had to be supplied, and 
while thus providing for home needs, new laborers 
had to be gathered for the foreign missions. 

While the Seminary of the Foreign Missions, and 
the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda were en- 
deavoring to provide, from their scanty resources, for 
the needs of Christians who had been deprived of 
spiritual care, another appeal from Corea reached 
Rome, now under the pontificate of Leo XII. Written 
in 1825, it did not reach the Pope until 1827, just at 
the time when a new general persecution was ravaging 
the Church there. 

Touched by such unwavering and loyal fidelity, the 



SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 157 

Sovereign Pontiff charged the Propaganda to offer the 
Corean Mission to the Society of the Foreign Mis- 
sions. Having appealed to its members, even to those 
in far distant lands, for volunteers, the Society ac- 
cepted, and, despite the insufficiency of its resources 
both of men and money, it sent one of its priests, 
Father Bruguiere, to begin the perilous work. 

This zealous missionary had just arrived in Siam to 
assist the Venerable Mgr. Florent, Vicar Apostolic of 
that country, who, weighted down by toil and years, 
had applied for a coadjutor. Rivaling each other in 
generosity, the Bishop and priest both consented, the 
one to deprive himself of much needed assistance, the 
other to exchange a peaceful and pleasant life for an 
unknown mission, filled with perils and difficulties. 
Consecrated Bishop in 1829, Mgr. Bruguiere was ap- 
pointed Vicar Apostolic of Corea by Gregory XVI. 
in 1834. 

But the trial of the poor Corean Christians, so long 
without a pastor, were not yet at an end. 

More prejudiced than ever against foreigners, and 
especially against Christians, Corea could not be en- 
tered except secretly. To gain entrance into the coun- 
try, the new Vicar Apostolic undertook a journey 
which lasted three years, during which time he experi- 
enced, both on land and at sea, all the sufferings, all 
the perils, that St. Paul speaks of when describing his 
own apostolate. Meanwhile a Chinese priest, Father 



158 SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 

Pacificus by name, had gained entrance into Corea 
and commenced his ministry ; but far from strengthen- 
ing the authority of the Vicar Apostolic, he filled the 
hearts of the Coreans with terror, telling them that 
the arrival of the French Bishop would only enkindle 
the stifled fires of persecution. More a Chinese than 
a priest, this unworthy missionary thus opposed the 
work of God. Such infidelity, however, caused him 
to lose the grace of his vocation. He fell into the 
snares of the tempter, and disgraced himself by secret 
crimes which were discovered later on, and which 
forced the head of the mission, Father Maubant, to 
send him away. 

Mgr. Bruguiere had much to suffer from the silent 
hostility of his spiritual children — a hostility due to the 
influence of Father Pacificus. They were continually 
raising up new difficulties to delay his entrance among 
them — imaginary difficulties invented for that express 
purpose. At last it became necessary for the Bishop 
to resort to severe measures, and he threatened the 
Coreans with the excommunication pronounced against 
those who opposed the wishes of the Holy See. The 
simple, humble faith of these good people could resist 
no longer, and they made ready to welcome him. But 
before this could be done, the holy Bishop died sud- 
denly at Sivang, in Western Tartary, on October 20, 
1835. Leaving Singapore on September 12, 1832, 
from that time until the hour of his death he had been 



SKETCH OF CO RE AN MISSION 159 

engaged in one incessant struggle against the many 
obstacles which had been raised between him and the 
land of his adoption. 

After the death of her first pastor, whom she had 
never seen, a French missionary, Father Maubant, 
who had been appointed to assist Mgr. Bruguiere, suc- 
ceeded in entering Corea. Another French priest, 
Father Chastan, followed him a short time later, and 
for five years these two missionaries labored alone in 
what may be truly called a field of martyrs. They 
found about nine thousand Christians in Corea, and 
through their untiring zeal this number was greatly 
increased during the period of comparative peace which 
followed. 

At the end of the year 1837 a new Vicar Apostolic, 
Mgr. Imbert, gained entrance into the kingdom, and 
it seemed as if brighter days were about to dawn for 
this sorely tried portion of God's vineyard. They now 
had a Bishop and two priests — more than had ever 
been on Corean soil at any one time since the founda- 
tion of the Church there. But, alas! two years more, 
and a furious persecution broke forth. The three mis- 
sionaries, imitating Father Tsiou's heroic example, en- 
deavored to avert its fury from their flock by sacri- 
ficing themselves. The Bishop, delivering himself up 
first, sent word to his companions to join him, and on 
September 21, 1839, a ^ three consummated their con- 
fession of the Faith by being beheaded. 



160 SKETCH OF CO RE AN MISSION 

The persecution of 1839 was more general and more 
systematic than any that had preceded it. The martyrs 
were many, and apostasies few, especially in the capi- 
tal. Even those who, overcome by tortures, aposta- 
tized with their lips, still kept alive in the depths of 
their hearts the germ of faith, which afterward led 
them to repent. 

The Corean Church was again without priests, and 
more than five years passed before it saw another min- 
ister of Christ. During this time intermittent periods 
of persecution further enriched its martyrology, 
notably in 1841, a year celebrated for the heroism of 
its confessors. Father Ferreol, who had sought to 
join Mgr. Imbert in Corea at the time of the latter's 
martyrdom, had been appointed to succeed him ; but 
had not yet been able to elude the blockade established 
all along the Corean frontier to prevent the entrance of 
Europeans. Consecrated Bishop in Manchuria by 
Mgr. Verrolles in 1843, he finally succeeded in enter- 
ing the country by sea, in company with Father Dave- 
luy, and a young Corean priest named Andrew Kim. 
The latter had been ordained in China, and his con- 
stancy and courage during three years of incredible 
trials and labors had prepared the way for the success 
of his efforts. Later on, when arraigned before the 
judges, the recital of his trying adventures drew a cry 
of admiration even from his persecutors. " Poor 
young man!" they exclaimed on hearing his history, 




Jt'l^l 



SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 161 

" in what terrible labors has he not consumed his 
youth ! " 

Mgr. Ferreol found affairs, humanly speaking, in 
almost a ruined condition, the Church desolate, the 
Christians dispersed and disheartened. Everything had 
to be commenced afresh; discipline was relaxed, in- 
struction neglected, and even a portion of his flock had 
concealed themselves from him in terror. While he, 
assisted by Father Daveluy, was preparing to restore 
former conditions, Andrew Kim was sent in advance, 
but fell into the hands of the soldiery, and after a 
heroic confession of the Faith, shed his blood for Jesus 
Christ with heavenly joy, on September 16, 1846. This 
was the signal for new arrests, and the year 1846 again 
saw Christian martyrs in Corea. 

Our tale would be incomplete unless we gave some 
account here of the vicissitudes and trials through 
which the Church in Corea continued to pass. While 
the two French missionaries were vainly endeavoring 
to cross the frontiers, Mgr. Ferreol occupied himself 
in setting in order the affairs of his diocese. A Corean 
deacon, Thomas T'soi, sent to China to study for the 
ministry, succeeded in reentering Corea, where soon 
afterward he was ordained. A French missionary, 
Father Maistre, after several fruitless attempts, finally 
forced his way into the country, but he arrived only 
to see his Bishop die, worn out by fatigues and priva- 



162 SKETCH OF CO RE AN MISSION 

tions. This made the third Vicar Apostolic that the 
Church had lost in Corea within ten years. 

The Holy See appointed a worthy successor in the 
person of Mgr. Berneux, who had made a confession 
of the Faith amid torture in the persecution in Tonquin. 
Condemned to death, he escaped his fate only by the 
timely arrival of a French war vessel, whose com- 
mander demanded the prisoner's release. God still 
reserved for the holy Bishop the palm of martyrdom, 
but He desired him to gain it by ten more years of 
hardships. 

Two other missionaries, Fathers Pourthie and Petit- 
Nicolas, accompanied Mgr. Berneux to Corea. It was 
at Eastertime, in the year 1856. All three were des- 
tined to receive the crown of martyrdom. 

Already enfeebled by work and suffering, the new 
Vicar Apostolic accepted the perilous charge offered 
him, and attempted now to bring order out of chaos 
in the bosom of his Church. Although scarcely ac- 
quainted with his clergy, he hastened to avail himself 
of the powers he received from Rome to select a co- 
adjutor. There could be no doubt as to his choice. A 
saintly missionary, Father Daveluy, who knew the 
Corean language and customs, was chosen and conse- 
crated March 25, 1857. 

Just about the time of this happy event a new la- 
borer, Father Feron, came to join Mgr. Berneux, who 
could thus hold a synod composed of two Bishops, four 



SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 163 

French, and one Corean priest. It really seemed as if 
brighter days were in store. 

A sad loss soon tempered Mgr. Berneux's joy. 
Father Maistre succumbed to a short illness almost 
immediately after the arrival of Father Feron. The 
holy Bishop was not discouraged, however, but bravely 
set about the administration of the affairs of his dio- 
cese, fully resolved in a very short time to resign in 
favor of Mgr. Daveluy. But the needs of the mission 
did not permit him to carry out his purpose. Although 
ill and broken in health, he was obliged to take active 
charge of a large district, and favored by a lull in the 
storm, great progress was made. 

Each missionary had his own territory, over which 
he traveled during the winter months, going from vil- 
lage to village, but always taking great precautions 
against being observed or recognized. The two 
Bishops conducted themselves like simple priests, walk- 
ing a part of the day through snow and ice, and spend- 
ing the remainder of it in receiving the visits of the 
faithful, in examining into their affairs, recording the 
marriages, instructing and baptizing catechumens, and 
hearing confessions. A few hours' sleep on a straw 
mat was all the repose they could allow themselves. 
They were obliged to rise at midnight, hear confessions 
again, say Mass, give Communion to the faithful as- 
sembled from the neighboring districts, and leave 
before daybreak, so as to avoid attracting the attention 



164 SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 

of the pagans. Mgr. Berneux, seeing what was re- 
quired of his missionaries, had determined to set them 
the example. Always up at half-past two in the morn- 
ing, he continued laboring or traveling until evening, 
and then not until a late hour did he cease work, to 
throw himself, almost worn out, upon his mat. Add 
to all this the insufficiency of food in a poor country 
in which the greater part of the people live on rice and 
herbs, the meager hospitality which the Christians 
could afford and who were nearly always poverty- 
stricken from the violence of the persecutions raging 
against them, and we have some idea of the ordinary 
conditions attending on the exercise of the apostolate. 

" I have always led a life of sacrifice and labor," 
wrote the good Bishop, " but I really think that now 
I have reached the limit." 

Mgr. Daveluy, imitating the virtues of the Vicar 
Apostolic, presided over a large district, and in sum- 
mer, during which the Christians are employed in their 
field labors, he spent his leisure in compiling a large 
Chinese-Corean and French dictionary, in writing Co- 
rean books on religion, and in collecting from the lips 
of the older Christians the details of the implanting of 
the Faith in Corea and of the persecutions which had 
so sorely tried it. 

Such zeal could not but bear fruit. For the year 
1859 there were registered six hundred and seven 
baptisms of adults, over one thousand seven hundred 



SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 165 

baptisms of infants, nine hundred and eight of whom 
were pagan children at the point of death, over one 
thousand two hundred catechumens, one thousand four 
hundred confessions, seven thousand Communions and 
two hundred Christian marriages. The Christian popu- 
lation had increased to sixteen thousand. 

The Christian religion was now beginning to pros- 
per, when, at the beginning of the year i860, the hatred 
and greed of a mandarin, judge of a criminal court and 
head of the police in the capital, suddenly aroused the 
slumbering fires, and once more persecution created 
terror among the faithful. The king and the Govern- 
ment were opposed to such attacks, and the Christians 
who had been arrested and questioned were not exe- 
cuted ; still, numerous acts of violence were com- 
mitted, the houses of the faithful were pillaged, whole 
villages were burned or razed to the ground, and their 
unhappy inhabitants obliged to flee to the mountains 
in dire distress. This storm of persecution made sad 
havoc among the Catholics, and for a time arrested 
the progress of the work. 

Calm had scarcely ensued ere the news reached 
Corea of the result of the Anglo-French expedition to 
Pekin. Terror spread throughout the country. Those 
who were at the head of the Government were almost 
wild, expecting from day to day to behold a European 
fleet upon their coasts. By degrees the panic gave way 
to a feeling of contempt for the barbarians of the West, 



166 SKETCH OF CO RE AN MISSION 

and nothing could have been more unfortunate for the 
missions, as the events of 1866 abundantly prove. 

It was just at this troubled period that Mgr. Ber- 
neux lost by death Father Thomas T'soi, the young 
Corean priest who had become doubly valuable to the 
mission by reason of his nationality. This loss was 
repaired in part by the arrival of four new mission- 
aries, Fathers Landre, Joanno, Calais, and Ridel. The 
first two were carried off by sickness in the course of 
the year. In June of the same year a fifth priest sent 
from France, Father Aumaitre, reached Corea after an 
unsuccessful attempt to enter in the spring, and his 
coming brought great consolation to the sorely-tried 
heart of the Vicar Apostolic. 

Necessarily, several months must elapse before the 
newly-arrived missionaries could be of any service to 
the missions. " I placed them in Christian houses," 
said Mgr. Berneux. There, separated from all inter- 
course with their fellow-priests, they learned the lan- 
guage rapidly, and received from time to time a visit 
from the holy Bishop, who taught them the art of being 
happy amid work and suffering, even more by example 
than by word. 

Having the assistance now of a coadjutor and eight 
priests, Mgr. Berneux could promise himself some 
blessed fruits of his zeal, but a revolution in the palace 
shattered his hopes. The king died at the beginning 
of the year 1864. Although worthless and enfeebled 



SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 167 

by excesses, he had had a mild disposition, and was 
opposed to persecution. Weak character as his had 
been, his influence over State affairs had helped to 
stifle, in its germs, the uprising of i860 ; but his death 
gave full power into the hands of the enemies of 
Christianity. One of the four crowned widows, Queen 
Tcho, obtaining by fraud the possession of the royal 
seal, handed over the throne, in the name of the dead 
king, to a prince of her choice, who was at the time a 
child but twelve years old, and by this means assured 
herself of the regency. 

To accomplish this fraud she was obliged to make 
use of a faction composed of the worst enemies of the 
Church, and although personally opposed to persecu- 
tion, she was forced to select her ministers from among 
those who favored it. Thus was brought about the 
terrible events which, two years later, were almost to 
obliterate the Christian name in Corea. 

The first signs of this change of politics were felt 
in the provinces. The central Government gave no 
countenance to these troubles, but the mandarins saw 
themselves more at liberty to gratify their hatred and 
cruelty. From the end of the year 1865 the provinces 
of Hoang Hai and Pieng-an were the theater of vio- 
lence, unjust arrests, tortures, and sentences of banish- 
ment decreed against Christians. Lawlessness went 
still farther in Kieng-Sang, and ended in the martyr- 
dom of two heroic young men, who, after confessing 



168 SKETCH OF COREAN MISSION 

the Faith amid frightful tortures were finally strangled 
in prison. 

The storm did not reach the interior ; and Mgr. Ber- 
neux, more and more worn out by fatigues and in- 
firmities was able to resume work with the aid of his 
new assistants. The letters of Mgr. Daveluy, 1865, 
note the fidelity and virtue of the mere catechumens, 
and show how ready they were to receive the truth. 

The diseases which undermined the health of the 
elder missionaries and weakened that of the younger, 
were the only notable trials that the mission passed 
through up to the time when Just de Bretenieres and 
his companions reached the end of the perilous journey, 
the circumstances of which we have already related. 

We must now resume our biographical sketch, and 
without losing sight of our young apostle, we shall 
see unfolding before our eyes that bloody drama which 
destroyed a Christian mission just as it began to 
flourish. 



" The good God will probably often give you what in this life 
are called troubles and trials, but he whose heart is fixed on 
Jesus Christ and not on the world, regards these as jewels 
added to his crown" 



CHAPTER VII. 

LIFE IN COREA.—THE ARREST OF MGR. BERNEUX. 
—THE PRISONS.— THE TORTURES.— FATHER DE 
BRETENIERES CAPTURED. — THE EXAMINA- 
TIONS.— THE MARTYRDOM (1865-1866). 

We left our four missionaries with Mgr. Daveluy, 
who had received them on their arrival. Just was sent 
to Mgr. Berneux at Seoul, the capital of the kingdom, 
and his two confreres were stationed in the province. 

However, the Bishop did not wish to keep him in 
what Just humorously styled " the episcopal hut." To 
learn the language of the country more quickly he 
placed him in a house of native Christians, whence the 
young missionary went from time to time at night to 
the home of his Bishop there to enkindle his zeal from 
contact with this great apostle. 

His letters furnish us with some interesting details 
concerning the new way of living which he now 
adopted. Corea, as we have already stated, is a poor 
country, and was then entirely closed to commerce. 
There are scarcely any skilled workmen to be found 
there. Each one cultivates his field and provides by 
his own industry for his various needs, constructs his 
own house, makes his own clothing, his shoes, and 



170 LIFE IN COREA 

even the implements required for his work. Hence, 
from their inexperience, the products of their labor 
are very imperfect. 

" Behold me now a citizen of the capital," writes 
Just to his old tutor, " and this is saying a great deal, 
for the name of our city means City of Delights. But 
do not be dazzled by the magnificent name. Every- 
thing in this world is relative, and what might be de- 
lightful to a Corean would be far from such to a 
European. Figure to yourself an immense cluster of 
huts, built of earth, not to be compared in appearance 
to the poorest huts of Bresse, all crowded close to- 
gether, having between them, in place of streets, pas- 
sages so narrow that two persons can scarcely pass 
through them abreast. These alleys also serve for 
drains, and are always filled with filth of every kind. 
You can imagine what it must be to splash through 
them, especially in rainy weather." 

The interior of these huts were not more inviting 
than their exterior, and he speaks of this in the fol- 
lowing letter to his parents. 

" Far back in the house of the Christian," he writes, 
" in the most retired part, where, according to Corean 
usages, strangers are not permitted to enter, is the 
room reserved for the missionary — the best in the 
abode. It is nothing very grand — far from it, indeed, 
its dimensions being about five feet in height, ten in 
length, and the same in width. In it one can take but 



LIFE IN COREA 171 

three or four steps in any direction. As to furniture, 
the ground serves, according to circumstances, as 
chair, bed, or table. A small opening scarcely a yard 
high, closed by a frame covered with paper, is used 
both for door and window. It is here the missionary 
gathers around him in turn a few Christians, that they 
may receive the Sacraments and hear Mass. This 
spacious apartment is the only place that I have for 
exercising my long limbs. Like a squirrel in his cage, 
I turn and turn again, trying to imagine myself mak- 
ing delightful excursions in the mountains. I must 
be careful of my head; fortunately the tuft of hair 
which stands up over my forehead like a keel contin- 
ually warns me of danger. 

" As to clothing, the house dress consists of large 
puffed out trousers, and a short jacket. When the 
missionary goes out he adds to this a long robe made 
of a dark material, resembling our wrapping cloth, 
and an immense cone-shaped hat, looking like the 
roof of a pigeon house, at least half a yard high and 
a yard and a half in diameter, the brim of this strange 
headgear reaching to the elbows. This is the mourn- 
ing costume of the Coreans; and the missionaries 
adopt it because in this country any one who has lost 
his parents is obliged to cover his face. It thus affords 
us an excellent means of concealing our European 
features from curious eyes." 



172 LIFE IN COREA 

The food was not attractive, and worse than all, it 
was lacking in nourishment. The missionary's 
strength soon failed on a diet which invariably con- 
sists of a little rice or barley, mixed with small black 
beans, to which are added, according to the season, 
herbs or wild roots gathered in the mountains, the 
whole cooked in water without salt. " Sometimes," 
writes Just, " meat can be procured, but such meat as 
it is impossible to eat ; for they never kill a beef here 
until it is too old to serve as a beast of burden ; hence 
one must give up all thought of attacking its leathery 
flesh with his teeth." 

How did the young priest occupy himself in the 
narrow prison in which he was confined? His time 
was divided between study and prayer. The Corean 
language presents peculiar difficulties to a European, 
especially the spoken language, for the inflections of 
the verb are almost incredible in number, each verb 
having thirty and even forty different forms of con- 
jugation, from which one must be selected according 
to circumstances. The rules are extremely compli- 
cated, and the modes of addressing a superior, an 
equal, or an inferior, all so different that long practice 
only can give fluency to the tongue. A knowledge of 
Chinese is almost as necessary as that of Corean, the 
former language being widely used. 

As may be supposed, Just ardently applied himself 
to the study of these languages, urged on by his over- 



LIFE IN COREA 173 

whelming desire of being enabled the sooner to enter 
upon mission work. He keenly felt his inability to 
help his elder brethren, who were almost crushed to 
earth beneath their burden. " The work to be done is 
immense," he writes, " and the number of missionaries 
too few. All are worn out and barely able to drag 
along, a result due both to lack of proper nourishment 
and excessive work, the latter especially. At the pres- 
ent time out of six missionaries five are sick, yet they 
must struggle ahead and perform their duties as if 
in health. Of our two venerable Bishops, the one, 
Mgr. Daveluy, keeps up only by the help of Corean 
medicines ; the other, Mgr. Berneux, has been pros- 
trated by fever for the past five months ; nevertheless, 
he does more work than any single missionary. He 
has to be carried to the beds of the sick to administer 
the Sacraments, and is not able to perform a baptismal 
ceremony without resting several times during the 
course of it. A great part of the night is taken up 
with matters pertaining to the administration of the 
vicariate and one can well understand how exhausted 
he must be. Truly we are compelled to acknowledge 
the support given by the good God, without which it 
would be impossible to sustain such a life for any 
length of time. But no one complains ; far from it, 
for the same good God blesses the missionary's labors 
in proportion to his trials and sufferings. Many envy 
the lot of the missionaries in Corea ; it would be still 



174 LIFE IN COREA 

more envied if it were better known. Happy indeed 
are they whom the voice of God calls to this portion 
of His vineyard. If not remiss in responding to grace, 
it takes a very little while for them to sanctify them- 
selves." 

From the above we may see that the preoccupa- 
tions of study did not turn Just's soul from the one 
object which had attracted it: Love for Jesus Christ 
animating a faithful heart to sacrifice. This was ever 
before his eyes ; it was the dominating thought of his 
life. He even reproached himself for the distractions 
he suffered incidental to his journey, and he wrote to 
his young confreres in Paris, advising them to profit by 
the last months of interior recollection left them. He 
congratulated himself at finding leisure for prayer in 
his enforced retirement, and sought to imitate the 
sublime example of his venerable Fishop. He studied 
the heroic annals of the Church in Corea with loving 
ardor; he wrote to various Religious in Europe, pro- 
posing to exchange merits and prayers with them ; he 
interested himself in the establishment of a house of 
the Carmelite Order at Dijon, hoping that the daugh- 
ters of St. Teresa would be willing to offer in common 
their prayers and sacrifices with those of the apostles 
of Corea ; he charged his parents to solicit everywhere 
prayers for the country of his adoption ; in fine, he 
kept up with some of his old confreres, then mission- 
aries in Thibet, China, Siam, that spiritual correspond- 



LIFE IN COREA 175 

ence which had been a great delight to him at the 
Seminary, and which now, in the depths of his seclu- 
sion, set his soul on fire. 

" I taste here," he writes to one of them, " the 
peacefulness of the Seminary ; and I consider it a most 
precious favor to be able to pass a few more months 
in this way. After this I must unite in my life the 
duties of both Martha and Mary. Work will not be 
wanting. I know missionaries here who keep united 
to Our Lord amid all their labors, and to me this is 
very encouraging. 

" I have recently seen Father Calais. He is exceed- 
ingly kind, and is moreover, according to the expres- 
sion of our holy Bishop, ' in the friendship of the 
good God.' Despite his poor health, he accomplishes 
a great deal, doing as much work as our strongest 
missionaries. 

" I see that any one who desires it may always find 
time for prayer and meditation here ; and yet this mis- 
sion yields perhaps to none in the amount of labor, 
since the day does not suffice, and one must often use 
a part of the night, if not the whole of it. It is true 
that some of the spiritual helps to contemplation which 
God gives those who live retired in convents are lack- 
ing in most of the missions ; but this lack will supply 
better, perhaps, than anything else, motives exciting 
a soul to a life of faith. I scarcely realize this as yet, 
but all those who have had experience tell me it is so. 



176 LIFE IN COREA 

" The study of the language is truly an obstacle to 
recollection. It so occupies the mind that one must 
turn to it time and again, no matter how one's thoughts 
desire to linger on the life of meditation. How weak 
and miserable is poor human nature! But Our Lord 
sees the least exercise of that good will which He 
Himself puts into our hearts, and whatever one does 
will suffice, provided he often renews his resolution 
to act for love of God. 

" The want most felt here is that of the presence of 
the Blessed Sacrament. Oh ! if, like St. Teresa, I 
could always see Our Lord with the eyes of faith, 
present in the depths of my heart, how consoling it 
would be! But I am too inconstant! 

" Pray much for a poor sinner, that I may unceas- 
ingly lift myself toward Jesus." 

His language is filled with filial tenderness toward 
his parents, but he does not fail to mingle with it the 
accents of an apostolic soul, jealous of the spiritual 
progress of those whom he loves. He must have had 
a very high idea of the virtue of his holy parents to 
send them such advice, but it was in keeping with all 
his words when urging them to be resigned to God's 
will. We give below a quotation from the last letter 
which he wrote them. It is dated November 5, 1865. 

" Farewell, then," he says in conclusion, " until 
next year, when I hope to again send you tidings of 
myself, unless something unforeseen happens. I hope 



LIFE IN COREA 177 

that the coming year will bring you many graces, and 
that you will accept trials from the hand of God with 
as much thankfulness as consolation. The good God 
will probably often give you what in this life are 
called troubles and trials ; but he whose heart is fixed 
on Jesus Christ, and not on the world, regards these 
as jewels added to his crown. Do not take it unkindly, 
dear parents, if I wish you as many of them as the 
good God will give you strength to bear. One day 
you will certainly think of these as I do now. May 
God's holy will be done always ! The days of our life 
here below, spent in sorrow and tears, are so few com- 
pared to those of eternity, that we should rejoice at 
having it in our power to merit our future glorious 
happiness by trials which are short and fleeting. Is it 
not in this spirit that we should look at these things? 
I hope also that you constantly seek in the Holy 
Eucharist the strength and courage to live a truly 
Christian life. ' Come to Me all ye that labor and are 
heavily burdened and I will refresh you.' Let us ever 
be deeply mindful of these words." 

The memory of our pious missionary again brings 
before him those works of charity and zeal which 
filled his parents' lives. He encourages them therein, 
and also recommends to their care several poor chil- 
dren in Paris, in whom he was interested. " Please 
look after them," he writes, " although you have other 
claims upon your sympathy and attention, this is a 



178 LIFE IN COREA 

good work. We must act like the saints, who, when 
they had nothing else to give, gave their clothing. Tell 
me something about the churches you are having built ; 
where are they ? Where is St. John's and where is St. 
Chantal's ? Ah ! if it were only possible for us to build 
churches in Corea! At present there is not even a 
chapel here. A room in a Christian house is all the 
church the missionary has. What a contrast when 
one thinks of the churches of Europe, with their stately 
ceremonies and their sacred chants ! Here Mass must 
be said in a half whisper ; not even a ' Kyrie Eleison ' 
may be intoned ; everything must be done so quietly 
and secretly. I can not help thinking that in conse- 
quence of this our singing will be louder than all the 
rest when we reach heaven. Meanwhile we chant 
thanksgivings in our hearts for the blessings which 
divine Providence unceasingly showers upon us. 

" May the grace of Our Lord be ever with you, dear 
parents, and daily increase the number of your 
virtues ! Pray for your missionary child, that he, too, 
may sanctify his soul, and that one day we may all be 
reunited in our true country ! Farewell ! I embrace 
you in Our Lord, and pray you to bless me." 

The above gives an idea of Just's interior life dur- 
ing the nine months he spent in Corea up to the time 
of his arrest. His application to study, the knowledge 
he had acquired in Manchuria of the Chinese language, 
and his rapid progress in the Corean, all tended to 



LIFE IN COREA 179 

bring nearer the time when he could actively take his 
part in missionary work. At the end of some months 
he was able to make himself understood by the 
Christians already accustomed to the broken speech 
of the priests who labored among them. Mgr. Ber- 
neux now assigned to him the final instruction of 
catechumens and the administration of baptism. 
When the Vicar Apostolic was away, Just filled his 
place in the house, and ministered to the wants of the 
faithful. In the last months of 1865 he heard from 
sixty to eighty confessions, baptized forty adults, 
blessed several marriages, gave confirmation several 
times, and administered the Last Sacraments to the 
sick. Almost constantly confined to the dwelling in 
which he was concealed; obliged to practice restraint 
in every way lest he excite the attention of the pagans 
passing the house, he nevertheless went to visit the 
sick when obliged to do so by Mgr. Berneux's ab- 
sence. Disguised in his mourning garb, he even 
ventured outside the city two or three times to attend 
the dying. But a few weeks more and his Bishop, 
who appreciated his merits, would have found in him 
an invaluable helper. Such also was the opinion of 
Mgr. Verrolles, who had seen much of him in Man- 
churia, and who later was inconsolable at losing him. 
" What a perfect man ! " he writes. " For him mar- 
tyrdom is bliss ! What good might he not have ac- 
complished had it pleased God to prolong his life! I 



180 LIFE IN COREA 

always wished to keep him with me ; and it is a source 
of deep regret to me that during my absence he left 
my mission. I would certainly have prevented his 
leaving if I had known of it. He was of the number 
of those who should not have been unnecessarily ex- 
posed to danger, for God had prepared him to ac- 
complish great work in His Church." 

But God needs no one, His designs are inscrutable. 
The hour was approaching when the noble promise 
given by the life of Just de Bretenieres was to be 
swept away. 

We left our Corean Christians a prey to great anx- 
iety, in consequence of the change of rulers. Asso- 
ciated in the regency of Queen Tcho was a mandarin 
— a most cruel, ferocious character, dreaded by the 
pagans themselves because of his tyranny. He had re- 
solved to have the king's palace reconstructed on a 
grand scale. According to Oriental usage he under- 
stood well how to make the expenses of the work fall 
on the subjects, and turn them to his own profit. 
Hence the unprecedented exactions, the imposts levied 
throughout the kingdom, the so-called voluntary gifts 
according to their means from rich and poor. Re- 
sistance meant death. One of the learned men among 
them believing that his high rank and influence might 
have some effect upon the regent, addressed him a 
respectful letter of protest, representing to him the 



LIFE IN COREA 181 

probably sad consequences of such abuse of power. 
The executioner brought the answer. 

At this time the tyrant seemed to have no thought 
of the Christians, and they persuaded themselves that 
they had nothing to fear. Some among them, indeed, 
were on the very point of going to the palace to ask 
why they had not yet been accorded liberty to practice 
their religion; and they would have put their design 
into effect had not the Vicar Apostolic restrained them. 
Never had these poor Coreans been in better disposi- 
tions. One of Just's letters relates the following 
touching incident. Two catechumens living in the 
same province had finished their course of instruction. 
One of them said to the other, " Now we must go to 
Seoul to be baptized by the great Bishop." " But," ex- 
claimed his companion, " what will become of our 
rice? It will dry up during our absence." 

" What ! " cried the first, " do you care more for 
eating rice than for your salvation? What matters it 
if the body die, but if you are not baptized, where will 
your soul go at death?" "You are right," was the 
answer. And these two young men made a long 
journey of a hundred and twenty miles to receive 
baptism. 

Mgr. Berneux, while admiring the faith of his 
heroic children, did not share their confidence; and 
when they spoke to him of the regent's passivity in 
face of the well-known progress of the Christian re- 



182 LIFE IN COREA 

ligion, he answered : " It is the sleep of the tiger ; the 
merest accident may awaken him and excite his rage," 
and this accident, brought about by a foreign political 
measure, was not long delayed. 

For several years the Russians had made such con- 
tinuous progress in Tartary that the Corean Govern- 
ment became alarmed for its own independence. An- 
nexation followed annexation, until the Russians were 
close to the western frontiers of Corea, and touched 
upon the little river which forms the boundary of the 
province of Ham-Kieng. In January, 1866, a Russian 
vessel entered the port of Ouen-San, on the Sea of 
Japan, and dispatched the Corean Government a per- 
emptory letter demanding that its ports be opened to 
Russian vessels, and that Russian merchants be 
allowed to establish themselves in the country. 

Consternation spread throughout the court, and in 
fact throughout the whole kingdom. And now the ill- 
advised zeal of a few Christians turned the hatred of 
the people against the Church, for, convinced that the 
proceedings of Russia would result finally in religious 
emancipation, some of the followers of the Faith wrote 
to the regent, endeavoring to persuade him that the 
only means of holding off the Russians was to con- 
tract an alliance with France and England, and that 
the proper person to negotiate this alliance would be, 
naturally, the Christian Bishop. 

The regent received the letter, but expressed no 



LIFE IN COREA 183 

opinion, although seeming to share the views of the 
writers. It might be so supposed, since he took meas- 
ures to inform himself of Mgr. Berneux's where- 
abouts, and even expressed a desire to speak with him. 
The latter had just left Seoul to begin the rounds of 
his episcopal visitations. Never had his apostolic work 
been as fruitful. In this one tour of visitations, so 
tragically interrupted, he had baptized with his own 
hand eight hundred adults. The regent's invitation 
was sent him ; he hastened to comply with it, and a 
few days later, on January 25, he arrived in Seoul. 
But the regent, although informed of his arrival, neg- 
lected to send for him, and this of itself was sufficient 
to excite a doubt as to the real intentions back of the 
request. In the interval, it is true, he had had a long 
conversation upon the Christian religion with one of 
those who had suggested the alliance with the two 
foreign nations ; and he professed to greatly admire 
it, but complained of the interdiction against sacrifices 
to ancestors. In reality the regent was gaining time, 
wishing to be guided by the turn of events later. 
All the members of the ministry were bitter ene- 
mies of Christianity. Had the exterior peril be- 
come more imminent, the influence of the regent 
might have been exerted to induce them to con- 
sent to a plan confiding the safety of the empire 
to the missionaries. Unfortunately, however, the 
threats of the Europeans had again proved fruitless, 



184 LIFE IN COREA 

and the Russian vessel withdrew. The Coreans now 
recalled the groundless fears with which they had 
been filled at the time of the Anglo-French expedition 
against China. " These devils of the West," they said, 
" are to be feared only on the sea ; they dare not 
descend upon our coasts, much less penetrate into our 
country. Did we not put to death several of their 
priests, and did they ever offer to avenge it? And 
now since these preachers of impiety have denounced 
themselves in offering their intervention, it is a good 
opportunity to exterminate them and thus end their 
sect." 

Such were the plans decided upon at court, and the 
regent, even supposing that he was inclined to be 
friendly, was not the man to expose himself in order 
to protect the Christians. Measures of injustice and 
violence being more in harmony with his brutal nature, 
he followed the current of opinion, and the destruction 
of the missionaries was resolved upon. 

Meanwhile Mgr. Berneux, wearied of waiting for a 
summons from him, had again left Seoul and resumed 
his apostolic work, but without going far from the 
capital. He returned there in a few days, on February 
5, more confident of a peaceful arrangement than when 
he left. A note which he wrote on February 10 to 
Father Feron contains the expression of his hopes. 

" I do not know," he says, " whether in my last let- 
ter I asked you to celebrate a Mass for the peace of 



LIFE IN COREA 185 

the kingdom, and the happy termination of the affairs 
now occupying all minds. It is the king's mother who 
desires each missionary to offer a Mass for these in- 
tentions . . . Yes, there is a snake in the grass, but it 
seems in no hurry to betray its hiding-place. I have 
been awaiting an interview with the regent since he 
hurriedly sent me word to return. I thought it would 
have taken place before this, but up to the present I 
have heard nothing further from him. However, we 
have made a big step toward liberty of conscience. 
Pray Our Lord and His good Mother to aid me in 
these grave matters. Also advise the Christians to be 
very prudent." 

February 14, four days after writing the above, all 
illusions regarding the fate in store for him was dis- 
sipated from the holy Bishop's mind. Armed soldiers 
of the Government came to search his house, under 
the pretext of conforming to treasury regulations. 
Mgr. Berneux saw that they wished to assure them- 
selves of his presence, but he believed at first that they 
proposed only to keep him in sight; consequently he 
did not change his retreat, fearing that if he did so, 
the police, in order to discover his whereabouts, would 
search all Christian houses, and a general disturbance 
would follow. 

The treachery of a Christian servant brought about 
what the Bishop was most anxious to avoid. This 
creature betrayed the exact place of abode of the other 



186 LIFE IN COREA 

missionaries scattered throughout the kingdom, and 
their arrest was decided upon. 

As we are not writing the general history of the 
persecution of 1866, we shall relate in detail only the 
facts immediately concerning Father de Bretenieres, 
or those in some manner connected with him. Mgr. 
Berneux was the first arrested. At four o'clock in the 
afternoon of February 23, his house was entered and 
he was seized and bound ; but making no resistance 
he was immediately released and conducted, first to 
the Right Tribunal — so-called because it is situated 
at the right of the king's palace — then to the Kou- 
Riou-Kan, or prison where the lowest grade of crimi- 
nals were confined. On the next day he was trans- 
ferred to the Keum-Pou, or prison reserved for the 
nobility and State criminals. 

In all Christian communities prison is a place of suf- 
fering only in so far as it deprives one of liberty ; 
trials in our criminal courts have but one end in view 
— to punish the guilty. But nations that have never 
known the blessed influences of the Gospel are, in their 
punishments, strangers to everything that savors of 
the humane. The prison itself is a place of misery 
and suffering; every examination of the accused is 
accompanied by tortures ; and the sentence of death is 
carried out in the slowest and most appalling forms. 

Corea is no exception to this rule ; and to reach the 
acme of cruelty in their treatment of the disciples of 



LIFE IN COREA 187 

Jesus Christ, the persecutors of the Christians had 
only to comply with the regulations of their criminal 
code. Ordinarily, it is true, apostasy afforded a means 
of escape ; but even then it rarely happened that the 
tortures were not continued for a while, either by way 
of punishment or to oblige the sufferer to disclose the 
names of his co-religionists. To begin with, the prison 
was a place of torture, the epitome of suffering. It 
consisted of small wooden barracks built against the 
walls of a vast enclosure, and opening on an inner 
court. The sheds had no windows, the only opening 
being a little door. Air and daylight never entered, 
and in winter the cold was not less intense than was 
the heat of summer. Compelled to lie on the bare 
ground, soaked by the rain in bad weather, the prisoner 
was stifled or almost frozen, according to the season, 
compelled to breathe the poisonous air, condemned to 
live in filth, eaten by vermin, a prey to hunger and 
thirst. In the Kou-Riou-Kan, a bell was kept ringing 
continually to prevent the prisoners from communi- 
cating with one another, and to disturb their repose. 
Confessors of the Faith who have passed through the 
great persecutions are unanimous in declaring that 
they dreaded imprisonment a hundred times more than 
the torture. 

And yet the tortures that accompanied the examina- 
tions are greater. The most common, and one no ac- 
cused person or criminal ever escaped, was the basti- 



188 LIFE IN COREA 

nado. Seated in a wooden chair, to which he was 
securely tied, the accused, at every question addressed 
to him, received a certain number of blows on the 
fore part of the legs, inflicted with clubs, either square 
or triangular, like the legs of some tables. In conse- 
quence the bones became bruised and broken. 

To this ordinary treatment they added, in graver 
cases, the bending of the bones, dislocation, the torture 
of the plank, puncture by sticks, suspension, sawing 
of the bones, etc. The bending of the bones was ac- 
complished by inserting a piece of wood between the 
legs, which were secured to the ground by pegs, and 
gradually the knees were forced together until the 
bones bent without breaking. Dislocation consisted 
in tying the arms behind the back, and bending the 
shoulders back toward each other until the bones were 
dislocated or broken. 

The puncture by sticks consisted in thrusting sharp- 
ened sticks into different parts of the body; in the 
plank torture the criminal was struck sharp blows with 
the edge of a piece of oak, on the calves of the leg, 
until the flesh came away in great pieces. In the 
torture by suspension, the victim was hung up by the 
arms, which had been bound behind his back ; and 
while thus hanging, he was beaten so furiously with 
rattans that death would surely follow were he not 
lowered from time to time and the punishment dis- 
continued. The torture of sawing the bones was ac- 



XI 




S**^ z. %-i 




LIFE IN COREA 189 

complished by passing cords of horse hair around the 
limbs and drawing them alternately in opposite direc- 
tions until they cut into the flesh. 

After undergoing one or several of these tortures, 
the victim received medical attention, and was taken 
back to prison to await the next examination. The 
sentence of death was nearly always preceded by three 
or four trials of this kind, at intervals of several days. 
One can readily imagine the sufferings of these poor 
unfortunates ; cast bleeding and mangled upon the 
bare ground of the prison, there to await further trial 
and new torture, consumed by fever, hunger, and 
thirst, and a prey to all sorts of vermin. 

Let us now take up the thread of our narrative. On 
February 23, the day of Mgr. Berneux's arrest, Father 
de Bretenieres had gone to a kong-so — the house of a 
Christian made ready for the celebration of Mass and 
the administration of the Sacraments — in Seoul, where 
he heard two confessions, gave confirmation, and 
blessed a marriage. On returning home he heard of 
his Bishop's arrest. Ignorant of what the result might 
be, and the extent of the persecution, he took no pre- 
cautions except to send word to Mgr. Daveluy and the 
other missionaries whose places of residence he knew. 
Having done this, he awaited events with that peace 
and calm which was ever his chief characteristic. On 
the following day, the 24th, he said Mass for the last 
time, for on the morning of the 25th his house was 



190 LIFE IN COREA 

surrounded, and he, with the catechist, Mark Tieng, 
arrested. His servant, Paul Phi, was away at the time, 
and to this owed his life. The two prisoners were 
guarded in their dwelling for twenty-four hours, not 
being removed until daybreak of the 26th. Like Mgr. 
Berneux, Just offered no resistance, and was at first 
treated respectfully, two soldiers merely holding him 
by the sleeves of his robe, and a red cord, reserved for 
criminals of rank, tied loosely around his arms, which 
were crossed upon his breast. 

He was treated in all respects just as his Bishop had 
been. Conducted to the Right Tribunal, he was first 
interrogated without torture. Familiar with only such 
words and phrases as were needed for the holy min- 
istry, he simply repeated, in answer to the interroga- 
tories, " I came to Corea to save souls ; joyfully will 
I die for God." 

From the tribunal he was conducted to the Kou- 
Riou-Kan, on entering which he opened and shut the 
door rapidly several times, doubtless to introduce some 
pure air. 

Next day he was transferred to Keum-Pou, in which 
prison each person had a cell to himself. From here, 
he was taken on the following days to undergo four 
examinations, either before the ministers or before the 
chief judges of the Right or Left Tribunal. 

Upon one side of a vast rectangular court was 
erected the elevated platform of the tribunal. In the 



LIFE IN COREA 191 

middle of the enclosure the accused was placed and 
bound so securely to a chair by the legs and shoulders, 
that even under torture he could not make the least 
movement. Around him stood eight executioners in 
two lines, holding the instruments of torture in full 
view of the prisoner. Behind these, separated from 
the accused by a curtain, were seated the scribes who 
wrote down his answers ; a few steps back of these 
were eighty soldiers armed with different instruments 
of torture, ranged in the form of a horseshoe, and 
holding in check the curious crowd. As soon as the 
examination began, the eighty soldiers set up a sort of 
dull chant, drowning the voice of the accused, and 
preventing his words or cries from being heard. 

In the crowd were many Christians, religiously at- 
tentive to each circumstance of the drama; and it is 
to their depositions, received when the persecution had 
ceased, that we owe what details we possess — details 
which, unfortunately, are incomplete. 

In each of the four examinations, Just received the 
bastinado upon the legs, the bottom of his feet and his 
great toes ; he also underwent the puncture of the 
sticks. Perhaps, like Mgr. Berneux, he endured other 
tortures, but there is no testimony to that effect. The 
witnesses are unanimous in declaring that next to Mgr. 
Berneux, he was the principal object of the hatred of 
the pagan persecutors, and no one was more cruelly 
tortured than he. His imperfect knowledge of the 



192 LIFE IN COREA 

language kept him silent, except for his confession of 
faith, which he made in a loud, clear tone. Filled with 
vanity as they were with cruelty, the judges regarded 
this silence as an insult to the tribunal ; moreover, the 
young missionary before his arrest had resided near 
his Bishop, which fact probably gave them the impres- 
sion that he was one of the leaders. This in itself was 
sufficient to single him out for the severest punish- 
ment. 

During all his tortures the Christians remarked that 
the angelic youth never uttered a cry ; not even a moan 
escaped him. With eyes modestly cast down and 
countenance unmoved, the motion of his lips alone 
revealed his incessant prayer. Like the illustrious 
martyrs of the first ages, he had placed all his confi- 
dence in God and left to Him the issue of this glorious 
combat. 

In the exercise of such calm heroism, Just proved 
himself a worthy rival of his holy Bishop, of whom a 
witness of his tortures remarked, " Mgr. Berneux is 
always and everywhere full of dignity and sanctity." 

After each examination Just's mangled limbs were 
wrapped in oiled paper, and he was taken back to 
prison. When the examinations were ended, the con- 
fessors of the Faith were transferred from the Keum- 
Pou back to the terrible Kou-Riou-Kan. Here their 
hardships were greater than in the former place, but 



LIFE IN COREA 193 

they had the supreme consolation of being able to com- 
municate with one another. 

Fathers Beaulieu and Dorie were arrested on Feb- 
ruary 27 and 28, in a province a little distance from 
Seoul. Taken to the city they were subjected to the 
same questionings and shared the fate of the Vicar 
Apostolic and his companion. 

At the last examination sentence of death was passed 
on all. Several days elapsed before the day of exe- 
cution — days filled with the pain of wounded, mangled 
bodies, and the sufferings of an imprisonment even 
more cruel, but also — and we can not doubt it, for the 
joy depicted on the face of each victim at the hour 
of sacrifice is proof undeniable of this — amid the holy 
ecstasies of hope and love. 

On March 8, 1866, the four condemned men were 
taken from prison. Mgr. Berneux first, then Fathers 
de Bretenieres, Beaulieu, and Dorie, immediately after 
their head and father. Unable to stand, they were 
carried in long wooden chairs, their legs and arms 
drawn forward and bound to the bars, their heads tied 
to the back of the chair by the hair. Above the head 
of each, even as above Our Saviour's cross, was a small 

tablet bearing the following inscription: " [here 

was inserted the Corean name of the missionary, Paik 
being that of Father de Bretenieres], a rebel and con- 
tumacious wretch, condemned to death after having 
undergone torture several times." 



194 LIFE IN COREA 

During the passage from the prison to the place of 
persecution, the bearers stopped frequently ; and Mgr. 
Berneux took advantage of these halts to converse 
with his spiritual children, who could scarcely restrain 
their joy at his encouraging words. Sometimes cast- 
ing his eyes upon the crowd attracted by curiosity, he 
would exclaim with a sigh, " Alas ! My God, how they 
are to be pitied ! " Some of the assistants mocked and 
jeered at the martyrs, and the holy man, Bishop and 
apostle to the end, rebuked them in a tone of firmness. 
" Do not laugh at and insult us," he said ; " you should 
weep, rather, for we came here to show you the way 
to paradise, and you are preventing us from doing so." 

Capital executions take place in different sections 
according to the character of the accusation and the 
rank of the condemned. State criminals are beheaded 
in a large sandy plain called Sai-nam-to, situated fully 
a mile from Seoul, and about ten minutes' walk from 
the river. Putting a criminal to death is always ac- 
companied by the most solemn ceremony and display, 
all of which serves to prolong the victim's agony. 

On one side of the enclosure was erected a tent for 
the mandarin who presided at the execution, and be- 
sides the military escort accompanying him were four 
hundred soldiers to hold the crowd in check. 

Mgr. Berneux was the first summoned. Setting the 
wooden chair in which he had been carried to the place 
of execution on the ground, the attendants unbound 



LIFE IN COREA 195 

him and stripped him of his clothing. They threw 
water filled with lime into his face, and thrust a sharp 
stick through each ear. Then through the martyr's 
arms, which were tied behind his back, they passed a 
long pole ; two soldiers raised him up by this, and hold- 
ing him in this painful position, marched around the 
arena eight times, making a smaller circle at every 
turn. A long procession of attendants, armed with 
instruments of torture, accompanied the victim. Mean- 
while the rest of the military detachment executed 
marches and countermarches, which served to divert 
the crowd. Arriving in the center of the arena, they 
placed the holy Bishop upon the ground, his head 
bent forward, his hair tied with a cord which was held 
by a soldier. Around him six executioners, armed 
with immense, broad-bladed knives, awaited the signal 
for execution. The mandarin gave it, and they im- 
mediately began to dance around the victim, brandish- 
ing their knives, and uttering ferocious cries. 

At the third blow Mgr. Berneux's head rolled to 
the ground, amid the cries of the soldiers. " It is 
finished." The martyr's head was picked up and 
placed on a small board furnished with two sticks so 
that the mandarin could turn the bloody trophy with- 
out touching it. The mournful spectacle, however, 
was not yet completed ; and while the three other mis- 
sionaries awaited their fate, the soldiers resumed their 
march. Having again made the circuit of the arena 



196 LIFE IN COREA 

eight times, they stopped before the tent of the man- 
darin, presented to him the bloody head and then, re- 
turning- to the place of execution, suspended it by the 
hair to a post above the body. 

Just de Bretenieres was the second to pass through 
this long course of agonizing cruelty. His calmness 
never forsook him. This was the hour for which he 
had so long and so ardently sighed. He came to the 
place of execution even as the weary voyager to the 
welcome port. His head was severed from the body 
only at the fourth blow. Fathers Beaulieu and Dorie 
followed him in turn, undergoing the same tortures. 
Here also on March n, three days later, Fathers 
Pourthie and Petit-Nicolas, arrested on March 2 in 
a neighboring province, yielded their souls to God after 
giving the same testimony to Jesus Christ. With 
them perished a young Corean aged twenty-one, 
Alexis Ou, who suffered many trials when he em- 
braced Christianity, and who proved himself a glorious 
hero after undergoing the most frightful tortures ; also 
a catechist, seventy-three years old, Mark Tieng, a 
faithful servant of the missionaries, whose constancy 
in his last moments was not less admirable. Thus the 
death of these eight confessors of the Faith ended the 
first act of that bloody tragedy which was later to rob 
the Church in Corea of so many other precious lives. 

According to the Corean law, the bodies of crimi- 
nals must remain exposed three days in the place of 



LIFE IN COREA 197 

execution ; after which their relatives or friends are 
at liberty to claim and bury their remains. At any 
other time the Christians of Seoul would not have 
hesitated to render this pious duty to their Fathers in 
the Faith, but the violence of the present persecution 
deterred them, and according to the customs of the 
country, it devolved upon the pagans of the neighbor- 
ing province to give them burial. The four martyred 
missionaries were interred in one grave at the time, 
but five months afterwards, during a lull in the storm 
of persecution, the Christians exhumed the blessed re- 
mains. Ruined and despoiled of everything of value, 
these poor people could only with the greatest diffi- 
culty find means to defray the very moderate expenses 
of the funerals. To procure the four coffins and some 
other necessary articles, they disposed of whatever 
they still possessed, and, touching to relate, one woman 
sold even her wedding-ring for the purpose. 

At an appointed time forty of them repaired to the 
spot by night, identified the bodies, and prepared 
them all for burial, but the coming of the morning 
obliged them to desist. Two nights afterwards they 
returned with holy water and the books containing the 
office for the dead. They took the bodies, and on the 
side of the mountain about a mile from Seoul, they 
dug three large graves. In the first were deposited the 
coffins of Mgr. Berneux, Father de Bretenieres and 
Alexis Ou, the first resting in the center, with Father 



198 LIFE IN COREA 

de Bretenieres at his right hand, and Alexis Ou at his 
left. In the second grave were placed the remains of 
Fathers Pourthie and Petit-Nicolas ; in the third, those 
of Fathers Beaulieu and Dorie. An earthen slab was 
placed at the head of each coffin and inscribed with 
the martyr's name. 

Our task is finished. Yet, before turning our eyes 
toward France, where the mournful tidings will cause 
so many tears to flow, we must give our reader a short 
sketch of events following the death of the first victims 
— events which add such glorious pages to the heroic 
annals of the Corean Church. 



Corea to save souls; Joyfully will I die for God." 



CHAPTER VIII. 



END OF THE PERSECUTION OF 1866.— INTERVEN- 
TION OF FRANCE.— NEW TRIALS OF CHRIS- 
TIANITY IN COREA (1866-1878). 

From information given by the traitor Ni-son-i, who 
betrayed Mgr. Berneux, the mandarins knew that there 
were still other French priests in Corea, and they knew 
also their dwelling-places. The agents of the military 
police were sent out in every direction. Mgr. Daveluy 
was the first arrested. Summoned by the regent, he 
had left Seoul after waiting vainly for further orders, 
and it was while on his round of episcopal visits that 
he received the message from Father de Bretenieres 
informing him that Mgr. Berneux had been taken into 
custody. He at first considered it a matter of no mo- 
ment, and merely requested Fathers Aumaitre and 
Huin to come to him that they might confer on the 
subject, after which they again separated. On March 
11, the day on which Fathers Pourthie and Petit- 
Nicolas were martyred, Mgr. Daveluy was arrested at 
the house of a catechist who had concealed him. Still 
believing that the Government wanted only the Euro- 
pean missionaries, and that there was no danger what- 
ever of a general persecution, and fearing that in pro- 
longing the search for them numberless Christians 
might be compromised, he accordingly sent word to 



200 CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 

Father Hum, directing him to join him. The agents, 
in forwarding the letter, promised Mgr. Daveluy to 
make no other arrests, but the promise was not kept, 
and soon the whole country was being searched far 
and wide. 

Father Huin immediately complied with his Bishop's 
wishes, as did also Father Aumaitre, who had received 
a similar message. Actuated by but one charitable 
thought, that of shielding the poor Coreans, they de- 
livered themselves up to the officers. The rigorous 
measures taken by these police against the mission- 
aries left them no chance, even had they so desired, 
to escape ; and their concealment for a few days longer 
would only have resulted in bringing misfortunes and 
trouble upon numberless other Christian houses already 
suspected. 

Satisfied with this voluntary surrender, the police 
agents liberated those Christians who had been ar- 
rested with the Bishop. His servant, however, Luke 
Hoang, refused to avail himself of it, declaring that he 
would share his master's fate. Here, as elsewhere, 
examples of the most sublime devotion and of the 
blackest perfidy were seen side by side. As these con- 
fessors of the Faith were being taken to the capital, a 
rich pagan approached Mgr. Daveluy and said to him 
in a tone of respectful sympathy : " From your view- 
point your conduct is very beautiful, but your fate is 
terrible and excites my deepest compassion." The 



CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 201 

Bishop, touched by this expression of generous senti- 
ment, pressed the stranger's hand in token of grati- 
tude. 

Arrived in Seoul and imprisoned in the Kou-Riou- 
Kan, the four prisoners underwent the usual examina- 
tions accompanied by tortures, the details of which we 
are not able to give. We do know, however, that Mgr. 
Daveluy was most cruelly tortured, and also that upon 
being questioned as to his religion he took the ad- 
vantage of the occasion to deliver a sermon unfolding 
the truths of Christianity. 

While preparations were being made to have the 
execution at Sai-nam-to, another order decreed that 
it should take place in one of the provinces. The king 
being sick, it was necessary to consult the soothsay- 
ers, and there was danger that the execution of the 
foreigners might affect the auguries. At the last mo- 
ment a catechist, Joseph Giang, was added to the band 
of four ; then, weakened by their tortures and unable 
to stand, all were taken on horseback to Sourieng, upon 
the seacoast. They showed the marks of the horrible 
sufferings they had undergone, but the celestial joy 
which filled their souls could not be concealed and in 
spite of their agony their countenances were beautiful. 
On Holy Thursday, March 29, as they drew near to 
the place of execution, Mgr. Daveluy heard the agents 
talking among themselves and making arrangements 
to delay the execution in order to display the victims 



202 CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 

in a neighboring town. Filled with a holy desire to 
die on the day which commemorates Our Saviour's 
death, he cried out in a tone of authority : " What you 
propose is impossible ; we must die to-morrow." God 
inclined these barbarians to accede to the martyrs' 
wishes, and on the next day, Good Friday, March 30, 
1866, the Bishop and his two priests, his catechist and 
his servant, rendered to Jesus Christ the testimony of 
their blood. 

It is said that the mandarin presiding at the execu- 
tion ordered the martyrs to prostrate themselves be- 
fore him, following the custom in Corea for condemned 
criminals to salute those who sentence them to death. 
Mgr. Daveluy answered with dignity that he would 
salute him in the French manner, but refused to go on 
his knees. A brutal blow from a soldier's fist struck 
him face downward to the ground. 

Another incident of even more revolting cruelty 
marked the holy Bishop's death. The executioner had 
set no price upon his bloody deed and after a first 
stroke, which inflicted a terrible gash in the victim's 
neck, he suddenly stopped, and refused to continue 
except upon promise of a large sum. The avaricious 
mandarin would not agree to his terms, and it was 
necessary to assemble the officers of the prefecture 
to decide the case. The discussion lasted a quarter 
of an hour, the victim meanwhile writhing on the 
ground in agonizing convulsions. The bargain was 



CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 203 

finally concluded, and two fresh strokes delivered the 
martyr's soul. 

Fathers Aumaitre and Huin and lastly, the two 
Coreans, were beheaded in turn. 

The martyrs' bodies, exposed for three days, then 
interred by the pagans in the sand, were some weeks 
later exhumed by the Christians, and buried in one 
large grave near a village of the Hong San district. 

The holy victims who had believed they could save 
the Corean Christians by sacrificing themselves were 
cruelly deceived. The persecution spread, and was 
even more far-reaching and of a more ferocious char- 
acter than any that had preceded it. The year 1866 
witnessed scenes of massacre, pillage, and devasta- 
tion. The Christians were ferreted out, and after 
most frightful tortures were executed publicly or 
strangled secretly in their prisons. Deprived of 
the spiritual aid of the missionaries, seeing the 
ruin of their Church without hope of deliverance, 
many sought in apostasy a protection which often 
failed them, for the hatred of the persecutors 
seemed more bent on exterminating the Christians 
than bringing them back to the national belief. 
The headsman's sabre and the strangler's cord 
not doing their work quickly enough to please the 
mandarins, a sort of wooden guillotine was devised, 
consisting of a long beam which was suddenly dropped 
upon the necks of the condemned, who were tied to- 
14 



204 CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 

gether, so that twenty to twenty-five persons were put 
to death at a time. In some places they buried the 
prisoners alive in great ditches, the earth and stones 
cast in upon them serving the double purpose of mur- 
dering them and burying them. 

Another feature of the persecution begun in 1866 
was its length : for four years it continued the work of 
destruction, with short intervals of peace followed by 
fresh outbursts of violence. In 1870 it was estimated 
that eight thousand persons had been put to death 
during the persecution, not to mention those who had 
succumbed to hardships and hunger. If there be an 
exaggeration in these figures, it being almost impos- 
sible to give an exact statement, we can at least truth- 
fully say that the number of victims was very great, 
and that the whole kingdom was covered with blood 
and ruins. 

The inefficient intervention of the French Navy was 
one of the causes which contributed to the virulence 
of the persecution. Informed of the death of the 
French missionaries, Rear-Admiral Roze, who com- 
manded the naval division in the China Seas, made 
hostile demonstration upon the Corean coasts in the 
month of September. He returned in October with 
more war vessels, and attacking the island of Kang- 
Hoa, which was their stronghold, both citadel and 
town were captured. He then demanded satisfaction 
for the murder of the French subjects from the Gov- 




THE PRIME MINISTER OF COREA, IN COURT DRESS. 



CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 205 

ernment. The Corean officials, emboldened by their 
success in escaping punishment for previous outrages, 
disdained to reply. The Admiral thereupon sent a 
detachment of a hundred and sixty marines without 
artillery into the interior of the island. In the face 
of the preparations made by the enemy the force was 
ridiculously small, and soon it was brought to a stand 
before a fortified pagoda, from which the sheltered 
Coreans could fire upon the men without danger to 
themselves. After heroic but futile efforts, the de- 
tachment holding in check the pursuing Coreans was 
obliged to fall back upon Kang-Hoa, with more than 
thirty wounded. It would have been an easy task to 
repair this defeat by entering the Seoul River and 
bombarding the capital, but the Admiral feared to take 
any further steps without instructions from his Gov- 
ernment ; and despite all the entreaties of Father Ridel, 
who was on board, he set sail for China, leaving the 
persecutors of Christianity more puffed up with pride 
than ever over their so-called victory. 

The English at Hong-Kong, seeing the indifference 
of the French, spoke of taking up the matter, but as 
Corea offered no commercial advantages they merely 
talked a great deal but did nothing. 

Later on, in 1871, an American expedition, follow- 
ing in the wake of the French and the English, was 
attended with like results. In consequence of acts of 
violence committed by the Corean Government upon 



206 CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 

the persons of American citizens — the massacre of 
shipwrecked sailors — Admiral Rodgers descended 
upon the coasts of Corea. Like Admiral Roze, he 
made demands of the Government which were left 
unanswered ; then, after an ineffectual demonstration, 
perceiving that the affair promised to be of greater 
magnitude than he had anticipated, he withdrew with- 
out enforcing his demands, and left the Coreans still 
more insolent in their fancied superiority. When will 
the Governments of civilized nations understand that 
in treating with barbarous peoples they must choose 
resolutely between peace and war? Armed interven- 
tion in behalf of missionaries and Christians is of ques- 
tionable value ; even the missionaries themselves differ 
on this point, and those of them that support such 
measures acknowledge that it has its advantages and 
disadvantages. We can readily understand that much 
may be said, for and against, on this question, but 
what is incontestably harmful, what increases the 
dangers of the missionaries without giving them any 
assistance, is the system of half measures, insufficient 
demonstrations, acts of threatening hostility which end 
fruitlessly. And yet this is the spectacle which all 
European nations and America, too, have presented in 
their quarrels with Asiatics, whenever a material in- 
terest was not the cause at issue. This deplorable 
policy has caused torrents of blood to flow in China 
alone. 



CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 207 

The reader would scarcely pardon us if we bade 
adieu to Corea without informing him of the fate of 
the missionaries who escaped the massacre of 1866. 

These were three in number, Fathers Calais, Feron, 
and Ridel. Having succeeded in concealing them- 
selves, amid untold sufferings, each ignorant of the 
fate of the others and hourly expecting death, they 
profited by these days which God had given them to 
attend to the few Christians with whom they could 
now communicate. At the end of two months, on 
May 5, Father Ridel rejoined Father Feron. A month 
later they received news from Father Calais and cor- 
responded with him. After considering the matter, 
they agreed to send one of their number to China to 
represent there the state of affairs in Corea, and to 
seek help. Father Feron, who, being the eldest, exer- 
cised authority over the rest, appointed Father Ridel 
to this perilous mission. Braving a thousand dangers, 
the priest finally succeeded in reaching the coast, and 
there chartered a vessel manned by Christian sailors. 

Landing at Tche-Fou on July 7, he went directly 
to Tien-Tsin, and acquainted Rear-Admiral Roze with 
all that had taken place in Corea. A revolt in lower 
Cochin China obliged the latter to delay his measures 
of retaliation against Corea. When he set out on the 
expedition in the following September, Father Ridel 
accompanied him as interpreter, and grieved and dis- 



208 CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 

appointed returned with the fleet after the failure of 
its attempts in the month of October. 

Meanwhile the Corean Christians had assisted 
Fathers Feron and Calais to embark on a Chinese 
junk which took them to Tche-Fou, leaving Corea 
once more without priests. The failure of the French 
expedition, and the increasing fires of persecution 
kindled anew by this failure, rendered the lives of 
foreigners unsafe throughout the kingdom. 

The three Corean missionaries repaired to Leao 
Tong, to labor under the direction of Mgr. Verrolles 
at Notre Dame des Neiges, until circumstances would 
permit them to return to their own mission. In 1867 
Father Calais, and in 1869 Father Ridel, attempted to 
re-enter Corea, but both, after hardships and risks, 
were forced to return to Manchuria. Thence Father 
Ridel went to Rome, during the Council ; and there he 
was designated by the Holy Father to succeed to the 
glorious heritage of Mgr. Berneux. On the feast of 
Pentecost, June 5, 1870, he received episcopal conse- 
cration in the church of the Gesu, from the hands of 
Cardinal Bonnechose, assisted by two Vicars Apostolic, 
Mgr. Verrolles of Manchuria and Mgr. Petit jean of 
Japan. 

The new Vicar Apostolic of Corea was compelled 
to wait a long time for a favorable opportunity of en- 
tering as its Bishop that country which had been the 
recipient of the first fruits of his priesthood. 



CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 209 

In 1875, five years after his episcopal consecration, 
he made, in company with Father Blanc, a fruitless 
attempt to enter by sea. A second attempt in 1876 
succeeded, and Father Blanc and Father Deguette 
landed and settled at Seoul. Father Ridel, who had 
accompanied them with the intention of remaining in 
the kingdom, yielded to the counsels of the other mis- 
sionaries and the entreaties of the Christians urging 
him not to do so for the present. At last, in Septem- 
ber, 1877, he entered Corea secretly with two young 
missionaries, Fathers Doucet and Robert. 

In the following January, 1878, a courier of the 
Vicar Apostolic on his way to China was arrested and 
imprisoned in Seoul. He was treated with respect, and 
although brought several times before the tribunal for 
examination, was never tortured. From this it was 
inferred that the Government feared the intervention 
of France. His captivity lasted five months, during 
which time he suffered greatly from the horrors of a 
filthy prison, and the companionship of criminals. He 
was witness of the cruelties inflicted by the police 
agents upon the unfortunate creatures imprisoned with 
him. He saw several of them die of hardship and the 
wounds received in the process of torture, while others 
were strangled before his very eyes. Time and again 
he believed that his last hour had come, and prepared 
himself for martyrdom. Probably he would not have 
escaped the fate of his predecessor, had not the Chi- 



210 CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 

nese Government, at the instance of M. Patenotre, the 
representative of France at the court of Pekin, de- 
manded his release. Corea yielded to the demands of 
the Celestial Empire, and Mgr. Ridel was conducted 
to the frontiers of Tartary. 

There now remained in Corea four missionaries, one 
of whom, Father Deguette, was likewise arrested and 
sent back to China. The three others continued, at the 
peril of their lives, in the work of the evangelization of 
the country. 

After three years of anxious waiting and longing, 
during which time they made one fruitless attempt to 
enter Corea, two new missionaries at last succeeded, 
about the month of December, 1880. This expedition 
ended a series of voyages made by Chinese vessels, 
which were met by appointment on the Corean coast. 
On March 18, 1881, three months later, one of the 
latest missionaries to arrive, Father Liouville, discov- 
ered by the agents, was arrested and kept under guard 
in his house ; but by order of the Governor, who feared 
a disturbance in consequence of the arrest, he was set 
at liberty in three days. After that the missionaries 
had no more trouble with the police. 

At last a breath of liberty was being wafted over 
this unhappy country. In this same year 1881, a 
Corean-French dictionary, published at Nagasaki, 
seemed to prepare the way for relations between 
Corea and France. Japan, whence this signal of peace 



CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 211 

had been hoisted, obtained the opening of three Corean 
ports to its people. In 1882 the United States con- 
cluded a treaty with Corea securing for itself the same 
advantages. In 1883 it was England's turn, and her 
treaty of commerce served as a type for the treaties 
successively signed by Germany, Austria, Russia, and 
Italy. France entered into negotiation with Corea in 
1882, but the treaty was not concluded until 1886, and 
not ratified until 1887. Since June, 1888, a French 
commissioner resides at Seoul. 

In 1882, Mgr. Ridel, kept from his mission by sick- 
ness, appointed Father Blanc his coadjutor; and the 
latter repaired to Japan in 1883 to receive episcopal 
consecration at Nagasaki. He made the two voyages 
publicly, leaving Corea on a Japanese steamer and 
returning on a German one. 

June 20, 1884, on the death of Mgr. Ridel, com- 
panion of the martyrs and confessors of the Faith, the 
title and office of Vicar Apostolic passed to Mgr. 
Blanc. 

The new head of the Corean Church immediately 
set to work, and in the month of September secretly 
collected at Seoul his eight missionaries for a spiritual 
retreat, held a synod, made a new division of the dis- 
tricts and adopted various other measures to meet the 
new order of things. Charity follows close upon faith, 
the twin virtues walking hand in hand. In 1885 Seoul 
saw this exemplified in the form of an orphan asylum 



212 CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 

of the Holy Childhood and a home for the aged. 
These two establishments, at first in charge of native 
Christians, were, in July, 1888, confided to the care 
of four Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres. Several hun- 
dred children and numberless old people had already 
been received. 

To-day the number of Catholics in Corea is 39,000, 
divided into thirty-two districts, with 554 mission sta- 
tions. There is one Bishop, and thirty-six mission- 
aries. 

All grades are represented. The mother of the 
present king is the daughter of one of the most bitter 
persecutors of Christianity in the early days. The 
Princess Marie was secretly a Catholic for a long num- 
ber of years. Even during the stormy period when 
the regent was endeavoring to wipe out the Christian 
Faith and its adherents, she was studying the claims 
of the Church. It is true that externally she observed 
all the idolatrous customs and superstitions, because 
this was a matter of compulsion. Once she felt free, 
she cast this aside and asked for Baptism. Bishop 
Mutel baptized and confirmed her in the month of 
October, 1896. A short time later he again visited her, 
heard her confession, and gave her Holy Communion. 
This was the last time that he saw her. Shortly after- 
ward she was taken ill and did not recover. The 
secrecy that guarded her conversion to the Church pre- 
vented her from receiving the Last Sacraments, but 



CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 213 

until the end came she was attended by a Christian 
servant. The Princess Marie died January 8, 1898. 

The erection and completion of the Catholic cathe- 
dral at Seoul marks the progress that the Church has 
made since the close of the persecutions. The Re- 
ligious of St. Paul de Chartres established in the cap- 
ital have received into their community native girls 
who desired to follow Our Lord more closely. There 
are now eighteen professed Corean Sisters and thirty- 
two novices and postulants. There are six native 
priests, a large and a small seminary, three dispen- 
saries, two orphanages, and thirty-five schools. The 
Vicar Apostolic, Bishop Mutel, bears upon his epis- 
copal seal the significant words : " Florete, Hores 
Martyrum." " Flourish, flowers of the martyrs." 

So, after a century of unparalleled sufferings, the 
poor Corean Church whose annals we have just given, 
at last sees Christian civilization triumphing over bar- 
barism. This blessed result is truly the work of God, 
but it may be permitted to distinguish therein two 
visible agents, viz., the heroic constancy of the native 
Christians and the self-sacrificing priests who so will- 
ingly gave up their lives to win the blessing of faith 
for the people of their adopted country. The blood 
of missionaries watered Corea's inhospitable shores, 
and God gave the increase ; while the charity of con- 
secrated virgins has replaced the horrors of barbaric 
cruelty with acts of tenderness and' love. 



214 CHRISTIANITY IN COREA 

The young martyr, the story of whose holy life and 
glorious death we have narrated, had his share in this. 
If we have allowed the series of events connected with 
our subject to take us too far afield, the reader will 
pardon us, we know, when he remembers that the 
dying missionary's vision embraced this future, that 
with his last breath he prayed for it, and offered his 
young life as a sacrifice to hasten its coming. 

But we must be mindful that our task is not that of 
a historian, but of a biographer. Hence we return to 
that moment which beheld the headsman's glittering 
blade sever from their bodies the heads of those holy 
victims, one of whom was the earnest apostle whose 
life is here made known to the world. Let us follow 
in thought the mournful message bearing to the 
parents of Just de Bretenieres the news of their son's 
death. 



" tfo longer the 'Kyrie' of sorrow and pain; no longer the 
Credo, the profession of faith; it is the 'Gloria,' the song of 
the "Beatific Vision; the song of thanksgiving; the canticle of 
never-ending love." 



CONCLUSION. 



JUST'S MARTYRDOM IS MADE KNOWN TO HIS 
PARENTS.— SOLEMN COMMEMORATION OF HIS 
MARTYRDOM AT DIJON, MARCH 8, 1867.— LAST 
SOUVENIRS (1866-1867). 

The events which took place in Corea in March, 
1866, were known in France the early part of the fol- 
lowing September. From the last days of August, M. 
and Mme. de Bretenieres were a prey to the keenest 
anxiety, having learned through dispatches to the 
English papers of the massacres in Corea. On Sep- 
tember 5, Father Albrand, Superior of the Society of 
Foreign Missions, confirmed the sad news, in a letter 
which he wrote to the Bishop of Dijon, at the same 
time enclosing therein the following letter to M. de 
Bretenieres — a letter which is indeed a model of 
Christian simplicity, and delicate tenderness. He 
says: 

" Most Honored Sir : To-day I can thus address 
you with more truth than ever. Yesterday we received 
news direct from our dear Corea — grave and mem- 
orable news, which the annals of Holy Church will 
ever hold in remembrance. God's designs are impene- 
trable to our feeble understanding, but faith teaches 



216 SOLEMN COMMEMORATION AT DIJON 

us that His divine Providence permits nothing that is 
not for the salvation of His chosen ones. Let us al- 
ways and everywhere adore this paternal goodness of 
God, and all that happens to us will be a means of 
sanctification, and a guarantee of heaven's favor. 

" The following, Most Honored Sir, are the details 
which have reached us of these last occurrences in 
Corea. Last January some European (Russian) ships 
appeared on the Corean coast, and demanded of the 
Government the opening of a port and a grant of land 
for commercial purposes. This peremptory demand 
excited great consternation at the Corean court, and 
throughout the country. As the regent sought a 
means of settling the matter discreetly, and as he was, 
moreover, personally very well disposed toward 
Christianity, certain Christians thought the oppor- 
tunity an excellent one of benefiting our holy religion, 
by bringing it to play a part herein ; and they suggested 
to the regent that the two Corean Bishops and their 
missionaries might prove valuable intermediaries. 
Filled with fear, the regent welcomed the proposition 
and had the two Bishops summoned. Mgr. Berneux, 
making his round of visitations, and having little confi- 
dence in the affair, did not wish to return, but his 
presence was officially known, so that he was at length 
obliged to yield, and repaired to Seoul. 

" Meanwhile, the Russian vessels had disappeared 
and with them the fears of the Corean Government. 




THE HEIR APPARENT (AT THE RIGHT) TO THE COREAN THRONE, AND 
ONE OF HIS ADVISERS. 



SOLEMN COMMEMORATION AT DIJON 217 

Prominent at court was a party thoroughly hostile to 
the Christians, and seeing the Bishop in their hands, 
they proposed to seize him and all his missionaries. 
Despite the regent's opposition to this at the begin- 
ning, their counsels at last prevailed, and Mgr. Ber- 
neux was taken prisoner. Orders were given at the 
same time to arrest Mgr. Daveluy and nearly all the 
other missionaries whose hiding-places were known to 
the Government through the perfidy of a renegade 
Christian. In the course of the month of March the 
two Bishops and all the missionaries, with the excep- 
tion of three, found themselves in the hands of their 
persecutors, who, emboldened by this first success and 
blinded as to the possible consequences of their action, 
carried their cruelties to a horrible extreme. In per- 
mitting this, God crowned two Bishops and seven 
missionaries with immortality. 

" The details are wanting, but we know that on 
March 8 last Mgr. Berneux triumphantly won the 
palm of martyrdom with Father Dorie, Father Beau- 
lieu, and one other of his missionaries. On March 
ii Father Pourthie and Father Petit-Nicolas gained 
the same victory. Finally, on the 30th of the same 
month, Mgr. Daveluy obtained the crown of martyr- 
dom in company with Fathers Aumaitre and Huin, on 
Good Friday at noon, thus renewing in their persons 
the sacrifice which the divine Redeemer offered for 



218 SOLEMN COMMEMORATION AT DIJON 

love of us, on the same day and the same hour, on 
Mount Calvary. 

" We know that these nine confessors of the Faith 
went to their deaths with a peace and joy which shone 
forth in their countenances ; happy to leave this vale 
of tears, and to await us in the bosom of God, amid 
the splendors of eternity. 

" I have named to you, Most Honored Sir, all these 
venerable martyrs but one — and there the thought of 
a father's and a mother's heart stopped me. I feel 
assured that these same hearts will of themselves name 
him whom I hesitate to mention. I now beg pardon 
for not having, perhaps, given sufficient weight to 
those sentiments of faith animating your family, and 
for hesitating an instant in telling you of the grace it 
has pleased God to bestow upon you, in placing your 
beloved son in the choir of martyrs. The very day on 
which Father Just was seized he had baptized twenty- 
five catechumens. 

" This, Most Honored Sir, is the only detail which 
it is possible for me to give you at present. I earnestly 
implore the Lord of the apostles and the Queen of 
martyrs to soften for you and all your family the grief 
which poor human nature must feel on such an occa- 
sion. Faith will raise you above nature, and you will 
bless God for the meed of glory which He has deigned 
to accord your dear child. 

" In the charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and in 



SOLEMN COMMEMORATION AT DIJON 219 

the remembrance of our venerated martyr, deign to 
accept, Most Honored Sir, for you and yours, my re- 
spectful affection and entire devotion." 

" Delpech." 

Charged with the delivery of this sad message, Mgr. 
Rivet went to the home of the young martyr's parents 
and acquitted himself of the mission with all the ten- 
derness and delicacy inspired by holy charity. Having 
prepared them for the news, he gave them the letter 
which we have just read. The father shed bitter tears. 
The mother did not weep, but her mute agony was 
terrible to behold. After the first moments of grief 
had passed, the Bishop had but to suggest it, to receive 
from the lips of these truly great Christians their ex- 
pression of perfect resignation. In his presence the 
sacrifice which they had made to God of their child 
was renewed, and with him and their second son they 
recited the Te Denm in thanksgiving for the glorious 
privilege accorded him. 

Later on, M. and Mme. de Bretenieres received let- 
ters from the missionaries who had known Just — 
among others, from Fathers Calais and Ridel, who had 
shared with him all the perils preceding the massacre 
which they themselves had barely escaped. Little by 
little the details arrived, and from all parts came testi- 
monies rendered to the young apostle's virtue, and 
congratulations addressed to the parents whom God 
had found worthy of giving a martyr to the Church. 
15 



220 SOLEMN COMMEMORATION AT DIJON 

They to whom these words of faith were written were 
indeed worthy of them. Their sorrow was deep, but 
the poor mother whose courage at the final parting 
seemed to surpass that of her husband, now felt her 
heart torn and rent at the thought of the tortures her 
beloved child had endured. St. Bernard says that the 
lance which pierced Our Saviour's side pierced the 
heart of Mary first. It is the mother's prerogative to 
suffer, and to feel the sufferings of her children even 
more than her own. 

Life henceforth had no charms for the stricken 
couple — I was going to say no motive for living. 
Earth presented to their gaze only a subject for tears ; 
but heaven, where faith showed them in glory and 
blessedness him whom their eyes would never again 
behold on earth, irresistibly attracted them. Heaven 
was now the one desire of their hearts. Their lives, 
more than ever detached from the world, became one 
long, ceaseless aspiration for their eternal home. While 
their second son was pursuing his ecclesiastical studies, 
they passed their winters in Rome so as to be near him. 
The remainder of the year was devoted to works of 
zeal and charity, which had always had so large a 
share of their time. And thus in the exercise of the 
most beautiful virtues they ended their earthly pilgrim- 
age, the Baron de Bretenieres in 1882, aged seventy- 
eight years ; his beloved wife in 1886, aged seventy- 
nine. 



SOLEMN COMMEMORATION AT DIJON 221 

The various birthplaces of the Corean martyrs cele- 
brated the anniversary of their glorious death with 
religious solemnities. Amiens distinguished itself by 
the grandeur of the homage there rendered the mem- 
ory of Mgr. Daveluy. On March 8, 1887, Dijon also 
had its celebration, on which occasion Mgr. Mermillod, 
Bishop of Hebron, pronounced in the cathedral of St. 
Benigne the funeral oration of the young martyr who 
honored his country more by his glorious death than 
he could ever have done by the most brilliant worldly 
career. Arriving at Dijon on the very day of the 
solemnity, and ignorant of his young hero's history, 
except in a general way, the orator spent the morning 
in informing himself, through Just's friends, of his 
principal characteristics ; and his words of eloquence, 
glowing with the warmth of the feelings awakened by 
all he had just heard, rang through the vaults of the 
old basilica in tones of touching pathos. One passage 
of his beautiful discourse recalls with touching delicacy 
and appropriateness the regret with which, amid the 
hardships of his life in Corea, Just complained of the 
want of becoming accompaniments for the celebration 
of the divine Mysteries there, contrasted with the pomp 
and splendid ceremonial of the Church in his native 
land. 

" Young martyr, sing, sing, now ! " he exclaimed. 
" It is no longer the ' Kyrie ' of sorrow and pain that 
flows from your heart ; nor is it the ' Credo,' the pro- 



222 SOLEMN COMMEMORATION AT DIJON 

fession of that Faith for which you poured out your 
blood — no, it is the ' Gloria,' the song of the Beatific 
Vision ; the song of thanksgiving ; the canticle of 
never-ending love ! " 

Let us finish this collection of memoirs by the nar- 
ration of a little incident, which, while we do not at- 
tribute to it anything of a miraculous nature, we can 
not but regard as certainly a touching and graceful 
symbol. 

One day, at Dijon, when Just was about nine or ten 
years old, he planted a rose-bush in the garden of the 
Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. Twenty years after- 
wards this rose-bush was still living, but, astonishing 
to say, it had never bloomed, and several times the 
gardener, like the master of the vineyard mentioned in 
the Gospel, wished to dig up the sterile plant. But 
the Sisters, cherishing it as a memento of the young 
missionary, forbade its removal. Suddenly, in the 
spring of 1866, for the first time it put forth buds — 
four buds, which gradually expanded into four beauti- 
ful roses. It was just about the time when, trans- 
planted from Corea's inhospitable shores, the young 
martyr's soul blossomed into unfading beauty amid the 
flowers of heaven. The rose-bush still lives, but since 
then has never bloomed. 

THE END. 



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